Martin Schulz, the head of the European Parliament, arrived in Tehran on Saturday November 7 for a one-day visit to meet with the Iranian president, parliamentary speaker and foreign minister.
Schulz has been quoted as saying that he hopes to obtain assurances about Iran’s commitment to the provisions of the nuclear agreement.
The European Parliament announced on Friday November 6 that Schulz would be accepting the invitation extended to him by Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament.
At a joint news conference, Larijani said the discussions with Schulz were “useful and constructive” for future collaboration on “trade and regional crises”.
Asked about Iran’s support for Syria’s Beshar Assad, Larijani said “reducing critical issues of the region to one individual is a strategic mistake” and he added that the “issue of Syria is not a debate over a single individual”.
IRNA quoted Larijani saying: “The issue of Syria is the beginning of regional chaos, and if we look closely we see that terrorists are growing, causing serious problems for the people of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan.”
Schulz responded to a similar question, saying: “I have told Mr. Larijani that I do not see a long-term future for Assad… The people of Syria should be able to take a decision about their country in an election, and Iran, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S. should help to facilitate this process.”
