Swedish PM to Visit Iran Soon

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is slated to visit Iran in the near future to remove the trade barriers between the two countries, a senior diplomat announced, AVA Diplomatic reports.

“The Swedish premier will lead a high-ranking economic delegation to Iran in February 2017,” Swedish Ambassador to Iran Helena Sångeland said in a meeting with Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholamhossein Shafeyee in Tehran.

The two sides discussed development of economic relations as well as removal of barriers hindering mutual cooperation between the Iranian and Swedish economic activists and businessmen.

“Löfven makes foreign trips only twice a year and one trip for 2017 will be devoted to Iran indicating the importance of bilateral ties with Tehran,” the envoy said.

In relevant remarks in early November, 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.

“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.