Sweden Wants Iran’s Major Partnership in Region

Swedish Ambassador to Tehran Helena Sangeland underlined her country’s eagerness to revive economic interactions with Iran to the pre-sanctions era when Tehran was Stockholm’s biggest trade partner in the region, AVA Diplomatic reports.

“The nuclear deal (between Iran and the world powers) was highly important and opened a new chapter in relations with Iran. Before the sanctions, Iran was Sweden’s greatest trade partner in the region and after the removal of the sanctions, there are new potentials for bolstering the economic and trade ties between Sweden and Iran and we hope that Iran will become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to further facilitate trade,” Sangeland said on Sunday.

“We believe there are good prospects for trade ties between Iran and Sweden, and there is nothing to hinder us from reviving the previous level of ties or even going beyond that,” she said.

The senior diplomat also stressed the Swedish officials’ enthusiasm for visiting Iran at high-ranking levels, and said that the Swedish deputy foreign minister will travel to Tehran next week.

Sangeland added that a Swedish minister, accompanied by a trade delegation, will visit Iran in December, and said, “We are also ready to welcome the Iranian delegations in different fields.”

Earlier this year, Sangeland had announced that several high-ranking Swedish officials had plans to visit Iran to further expand ties between the two countries.

“The visit is on the agenda by a number of Swedish officials to the Islamic Republic of Iran to develop bilateral relations,” Sangeland said in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran early October during which she submitted her credentials to Zarif.

During the meeting, the Iranian top diplomat voiced satisfaction in his recent visit to Sweden, and said, “After my visit, a large number of Swedish companies announced preparedness to develop economic cooperation with Iran.”

In relevant remarks in early June, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom in a meeting with Zarif in Stockholm called for the expansion of relations between the two countries.

“There is a need for enhanced cooperation between Iran and Sweden under the present conditions,” Wallstrom said.

The Swedish foreign minister reiterated that after Tehran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) signed nuclear agreement in July 2015, the time is ripe for Iran and Sweden to expand all-out relations.

During his visit to Stockholm, Zarif also held a meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven during which the two sides discussed the latest developments and crises in the West Asian region.

Zarif and Lofven also underlined the necessity for settling the regional crises politically and sending humanitarian aid to the war-hit regions.

Elsewhere in the meeting, the Iranian top diplomat expressed the hope that the grounds would be paved for the Swedish prime minister’s visit to Iran soon, and stressed expansion of bilateral ties with Stockholm in political and economic fields.

Lofven, for his part, welcomed broadening of ties with Tehran, and announced that he is planning an official visit to Tehran.