Iranian President Due in Switzerland Tomorrow


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to start his official visit to Switzerland on Monday to hold talks with the Central European country’s officials on a range of issues, including ways to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, President Rouhani will leave Tehran for the Swiss capital of Bern on Monday noon local time at the official invitation of his counterpart, Alain Berset.

Holding talks with the Swiss president, attending a meeting with Iranian expatriates in Switzerland, and signing a number of cooperation agreements between Tehran and Bern in various political, economic and cultural areas are among Rouhani’s main plans for the visit.

The Iranian president has enhanced political contacts with foreign leaders on the ways to save the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after the US exit.

Last week, President Rouhani told his French counterpart that staying in the JCPOA will be out of the question if Tehran cannot enjoy the benefits of the nuclear deal.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has underlined that any decision to keep the JCPOA running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the Europeans.