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EU to continue engagement with Iran

BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (KUNA) -- The European Union underlined that it will continue engaging with Iran and not cut channels of communication with Tehran.
"Unless the EU member states decide otherwise there will be continued engagement with Iran because this is the DNA of the European Union," said Peter Stano, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, at a news conference in Brussels on Thursday.
"We see engagement as the way to solve problems. Look at (Russian President) Putin. "He is committing the worse crimes against humanity and yet we are still keeping the channels of communication with Russia open in order to make sure that we still can continue to deliver messages. The same applies to our counterparts in Iran," Stano clarified.
"We are not cutting diplomatic ties, diplomatic channels at this stage. We are still engaging (with Iran). "EU High Representative (Josep Borrell) is the best example for that for having repeated phone calls with the Iranian foreign minister in order to deliver European concerns," he noted.
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola last Monday announced that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will not have any official contacts with their Iranian counterparts because Tehran has imposed sanctions on several MEPs. (end) nk.gb