Islam Times - Iran N-conclusion to enhance EU-Russia cooperation: Mogherini

Islam Times - The EU foreign policy chief says the conclusion of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group paves the way for further cooperation between Russia and the European Union over significant regional and global issues.

Federica Mogherini, who represented the EU in the nuclear talks with Iran, told Euronews TV channel on Wednesday that Moscow played a “positive” role as a reliable participant in the talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.

She further noted that Moscow-Brussels cooperation on important global and regional issues is likely following the conclusion of the nuclear negotiations, adding that this opportunity should be seized.

Mogherini added that Moscow and the 28-nation bloc have other joint issues to settle, including the crises in the Middle East region.

Following 18 days of intensive talks in the Austrian capital city of Vienna over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14.

Based on the nuclear conclusion, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all economic and financial bans against Tehran.

Relations between Moscow and the EU have deteriorated sharply since Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea joined the Russian Federation following a referendum in March last year.

Ties were strained further after Ukraine launched military operations in April 2014 to silence pro-Russian forces in the country’s eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

The European Union has repeatedly accused Moscow of supporting the pro-Russians in Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, has denounced the claims as groundless.