MNA – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that the €18 million package to support Iran by the European Commission is different from the EU package of measures to counter US sanctions on Iran.







“The European Commission adopted, on Thursday, a package of €18 million for projects in support of sustainable economic and social development in Iran, which is the first from a wider package of €50 million for Iran,” said Bahram Ghasemi, the Spokesperson of Iranian Foreign Ministry.

He made the remarks very late on Thursday, after journalists and news reporters asked the diplomat about the budget allocated by the European Commission for Iran.

Ghasemi added that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif signed a joint statement on April 6, 2016, in Tehran which is about cooperation between Iranian parties and the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union.

“Following the exchange of visits by the high-ranking delegations of the two sides, these agreed fields of cooperation are getting operational in areas like agriculture, immigration, industry and higher education,” he recounted.

“The European Commission, for its part, has played a big role in bolstering cooperation between the European Union and Iran,” Ghasemi stated.

Finally he underlined that the allocated budget is part of a cooperation package between Iran and the European Union and it is not the package of the Europe in the framework of the JCPOA, to counter anti-Iran sanctions of US.

The European Union agreed 18 million euros ($20.6 mln) in aid for Iran on Thursday, including for the private sector, to help offset the impact of US sanctions and salvage a 2015 deal.