Brussels, 10/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday 9 September that implementation of the nuclear agreement reached with Iran on 14 July was now at a crucial, critical stage. In a debate at the European Parliament, she said a critical stage had now been reached and she herself had a crucial role to play in implementation of this fundamental agreement.
Mogherini said it was of fundamental importance that the agreement be applied and the implementation phase would be fundamental because it would allow a new commitment between the European Union, its member states and Iran. The High Representative said that the EU wanted to explore how it could cooperate with Iran and this could take the form of trade, energy, counter-terrorism, air security, regional issues and human rights. She said an informal political dialogue would be initiated, beginning with high-ranking officials, to further explore cooperation and draw up potential details. She explained that when the agreement has been introduced, the EU would examine possibilities for having a presence in Tehran and that this would require all EU institutions acting in a coherent manner. She added that an Iran task force had been set up as an interface for cooperation in the EU.
Although the agreement is mostly about security, Mogherini noted that it also provided possibilities for renewed cooperation on the regional front and could open the door to new ways of dealing with the crisis in Syria, the situation in Iraq, the Yemen and Lebanon. The High Representative said that if it proves possible to put the agreement with Iran into pratice and develop new relations based on a degree of mutual interest and cooperation, then this would make it possible to deal with the region's problems more easily. She said that creating a more cooperative framework in the Middle East would be in everyone's interests and more than anything, would mean greater dialogue betweeen Shia and Sunni forces, which would be a real nightmare for Daesh. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)