TEHRAN - Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), has said that Iran and Europe will continue their nuclear cooperation in the next two years.

“Iran and the European Union have had cooperation in various spheres, especially in the area of nuclear safety, within the framework of the JCPOA (the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal),” Kamalvandi told ISNA in an interview published on Tuesday.

He said, “A center of nuclear safety is to be built in Iran. And I think the process of Iran-Europe cooperation will continue in the next two years.” 

He also said that the third conference of Iran-EU cooperation is scheduled to be held on November 26-27 in Brussels.

Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the AEOI, and European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete will attend the conference, he added.

The first Iran-Europe cooperation conference was held three years ago in Vienna. The second conference was held in June 2018 in Brussels.

‘Iran to counter sanctions’

Kamalvandi also said that Iran will counter the U.S. sanctions which have more psychological effects than practical ones.

“We will counter the sanctions through mechanisms that have been designed by the country and also the mechanisms that will be designed by Europe, China and Russia,” he said.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump officially withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal and ordered sanctions on Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were announced on November 4.

France, Germany, Britain and the European Union issued a joint statement on November 2 condemning the U.S. move in reimposing sanctions on Iran and vowed to protect European companies doing “legitimate” business with Tehran.

The statement read that Europe will also seek to “maintain financial channels operational with Iran and to ensure the continuation of Iranian oil and gas exports”.

NA/PA