Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the European Union can do more to bring about peace and stability in the volatile Middle East, and needs to back up its commitments with actions.
In an interview with Euronews Tuesday, Zarif said he believes Europe is selling itself short.
"What we need from the Europeans is both the political commitment, which they have made, and the need to see the measures in place on the ground, not simply in writing, not simply in words—in the banking sector, in the investment sector, in the energy sector, in the transportation sector, in the SME [small and medium-sized enterprises] sector," he said.
"I believe generally Europe is underestimating its power and its influence. We believe that it should be more active in regional peace and security, in international peace and security as well as in promoting greater cooperation and dialogue".
Zarif went on to say that Tehran has a good relationship with Russia and the Syrian government but blames the US for supporting the self-styled Islamic State (Daesh or ISIS) terrorist group.
"We have good communication and coordination with Russia and with the Syrian government and we will continue to do so. Our objective here is very clear, that is our objectives and the objective of the Russian Federation and that is to fight terrorism and extremism”.
“Now if President Trump wants to take credit for it, he should take credit for supporting Daesh which has been what the US and its allies have been doing all along. The fact that US arms, US weapons have been found in the hands of ISIS and other extremist organizations is documented, is documented by western sources. So I think we should look at the realities, those who fought terrorism, those who fought extremism are the Syrian people and those who work with the Syrian people," he said.
