Austria Thanks Iran for Help in Evacuating Citizens from Afghanistan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Foreign Minister of Austria Alexander Schallenberg expressed gratitude to Iran for its assistance in the evacuation of Austrian nationals from Afghanistan, pledging that his country is going to donate one million doses of coronavirus vaccine to the Islamic Republic in coming days.
In a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Austrian foreign minister congratulated his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on taking office.
Voicing Vienna’s readiness to promote cooperation with Tehran, Schallenberg praised Iran for its help with the transfer of Austrian citizens out of Afghanistan.
He also noted that Austria will be donating one million of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Iran within the next two weeks.
The top Austrian diplomat also stressed the need to restart the Vienna talks for the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
For his part, Amirabdollahian called for closer economic and trade cooperation between Iran and Austria and interaction in industrial, agricultural, scientific and technological fields.
On the talks surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal, the foreign minister said Iran has already kept its side of the bargain to salvage the JCPOA through strategic patience in the face of the US’ withdrawal from the agreement and the European parties’ inaction.
“It is now the time for the other JCPOA parties to show the necessary cooperation and honor their commitments genuinely and practically,” Amirabdollahian stated.
Iran welcomes talks, but disapproves of negotiations for the sake of negotiations, he underlined.
He also hailed a recent summit in Baghdad as a suitable platform for intra-regional cooperation.
Amirabdollahian bemoaned the fact that Iraq and its national sovereignty have been a target of interventionist and irresponsible activities of the US, which he condemned for the cowardly assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
