TEHRAN –  Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran spares no effort to have good relations with the European Union and the EU is also in need of close ties with the Islamic Republic.

Iran has always had friendly relations with many of the European countries, Salehi said in an interview on Monday with the dolat.ir website, a news website affiliated to the government. 

He said that strengthening relations with the EU has been one of the top priorities of the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic apparatus. 

“Many EU countries are keen to establish relations with our country, but they, as a member of the EU, are bound by the rules of the union and have to follow an approach contrary to their propensity,” the Iranian foreign minister said. 

“However, we make every effort to have closer ties with the EU and believe that Iran and the union can be complementary to each other,” he explained.