TEHRAN - The Iranians ambassador to Croatia has said that Tehran and Zagreb have expanded ties despite sanctions and seek to boost relations in various spheres.

In an interview with IRNA published on Tuesday, Parviz Esmaeili said that the Iranian and Croatian officials attach great importance to expansion of political and economic relations.

Esmaeili also praised Croatia’s support for preserving the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said in June that the nuclear deal is a great achievement of diplomacy that must be preserved.

During a meeting with Esmaeili, Grlic-Radman also called for expansion of relations in various areas with Tehran.

During the meeting, Esmaeili said the two countries are firm to increase ties.

U.S. President Donald Trump quit the multilateral nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The U.S. move was in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the JCPOA.

Under the JCPOA, Iran promised to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for the termination of economic and financial sanctions.

In May 2019, exactly one year after the U.S. unilaterally quit the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran began to gradually reduce its commitments under the JCPOA to both retaliate for Washington’s departure and Europeans’ failure to honor their commitments.

Now, the Trump administration has embarked on destroying the JCPOA completely before the November elections. It has submitted a letter to the UN Security Council chief seeking a return of UN Sanctions against Iran despite the fact that Trump officially withdrew the U.S. from the multilateral agreement in May 2018.

NA/PA