President Hassan Rouhani is to travel to Austria and Switzerland on a three-day visit on Monday, accompanied by a delegation of 110 businessmen from Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA).
The Iranian trade delegation will be headed by ICCIMA President Gholam Hossein Shafeie.
Talking on the upcoming visit, Bahram Ghasemi Iran foreign ministry spokesman said: This is first European trip of President Rouhani after US withdrawal from the JCPOA , and is considered a highly important state visit which can have a positive impact on our relations with European countries.
The EU and other signatories of JCPOA should prove their commitment to the deal and ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal, he said.
Bahrami added that this trip had been planned before and a number of ministers, political and economic officials, as well as entrepreneurs and private sector representatives will accompany Rouhani.
The European Union has improved relations with Iran since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) went into force in early 2016, and promised to uphold their side of the bargain despite the US pullout from the deal
Ruohani’s visit to Austria and Switzerland is an effort to save the nuclear deal while many believe the deal could not be saved.
Iran foreign ministry spokesman referred to Iran’s cooperation with the European countries in economic and industrial fields adding: “Currently, Austria has a special status among European countries, so that the headquarters of many international institutions and organizations related to the United Nations such as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are located in the country and Austria can be cited as one of the historic capitals of international diplomacy”
Meanwhile, the government of Switzerland issued an statement and assured the trip of Iranian president to the country will make good opportunity to talk about a detailed map for bolstering economic and political relation between both countries.