Iran Will Not Forget Friends in Post-Sanctions Era

Iran will not forget its friends when the sanctions are removed, a senior Iranian lawmaker said as the latest developments suggest Tehran does not shy away from depriving of economic opportunities those who have succumbed to pressure from third parties.
“The countries that stand by us in the current situation will have a superior position in the Iranian market in the post-sanctions era,” Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Vahid Jalalzadeh said.
Jalalzadeh made the remarks during a meeting with Italy’s Ambassador to Tehran Giuseppe Perrone, IRNA reported.
Pointing to bilateral economic relations, the senior lawmaker said the level of such relations is not commensurate with the available capacities.
He said Italy was Iran’s number one economic partner in Europe before the US reinstated its sanctions on the Islamic Republic in 2018 after quitting the multilateral Iran nuclear agreement that had lifted the bans.
The United States, under former president Donald Trump, withdrew from the historic nuclear deal, officially referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Action, and targeted Iran’s economy with what it called a “maximum pressure” campaign that included draconian sanctions on Tehran and those who cooperated with it.
The sanctions have had an adverse impact on the Islamic Republic’s relations with several countries, in particular Italy and South Korea, with which Iran enjoyed close ties before the Trump-era sanctions hit the country.

Limited Ties 

While the two sides are interested in developing their ties, Jalalzadeh said, the level of economic relations between Tehran and Rome remains “very limited.”
“Therefore, we hope to see the strengthening of bilateral trade and economic cooperation in the coming period,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of boosting cooperation between the two sides in the era of sanctions, Jalalzadeh said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not forget its friends in the post-sanctions era.”
Perrone lamented the decrease in trade and economic interactions between Iran and Italy, and said his country hopes Italian companies would be able to return to Iran soon so that bilateral interactions can reach their previous level quickly.
The removal of sanctions on Iran after the JCPOA was struck brought about an unprecedented surge in Italian companies’ presence in Iran. Chairman of the Iran-Italy Joint Chamber of Commerce Ahmad Pourfallah said on Tuesday that Italian companies are expected to return to Iran’s market immediately after the removal of sanctions.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA have been holding talks in Austria’s capital, Vienna, to bring the US back into the deal and remove its anti-Iran sanctions. Although the talks have been paused since Iran’s presidential election, many countries and their international businesses expect the talks to bear fruit and remove the anti-Iran bans. 
Meanwhile, Ebrahim Azizi, the deputy chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, criticized Seoul’s submissive behavior in the face of the US secondary sanctions targeting Iran’s partners.
In remarks on Saturday, Azizi also urged Seoul to immediately release Iran’s frozen assets and abandon its “passive” and “US-dependent” policy, and instead, strive to secure the interests of its people.
Relations between Tehran and Seoul turned sour as the latter succumbed to US pressures and froze billions of Iran’s assets in South Korean banks.
Iranian officials have repeatedly criticized Seoul over the issue and demanded the release of the country’s frozen funds.