Iran Urges EU to Reconsider Sanctions as Deadline Approaches

Iran has urged the European Union to reconsider its oil sanctions on the country as the 1 July deadline is just a few days away.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the EU should deal with the issue more rationally and added that the bloc was on the wrong track.

"We hope that the European Union looks into the matter with more rationality and wisdom because I think nobody benefits from confrontation. The benefit lies in engagement, and I think they are on the wrong track," Salehi was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters in Cyprus.

Iran has been subjected to heavy economic sanctions by countries across the world due its nuclear programme.

Salehi once again appealed to the EU to rethink its policies on the oil embargo saying the country wants only more engagement with the Union rather than confrontation.

The international community is holding talks with Iran in order to keep its nuclear progress under check. Although the country says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, other countries including the US and Israel are worried.

The foreign minister warned that stopping oil imports from Iran will further affect crisis-hit countries including Greece and Spain.

This could even harm the talks between Iran and the world nuclear powers, opined Salehi.

World powers held a few rounds of talks with Iran in Istanbul, Baghdad and lately in Moscow. None of them was able to produce any tangible result.

Meanwhile Israel is constantly threatening to attack Iran if it fails to stop its nuclear programme.

Nonetheless, Salehi is confident of resolving the issue. "It may stall sometimes, the process may not go as easy as everybody would like to see, but since they are in the right direction and both sides would like to see a resolution I see light at the end of the tunnel," Salehi was quoted in the Reuters report.