Fighting terrorism entails ‘strong collective will’

Ali Larijani attended a joint press conference after a meeting with Luxembourgian counterpart Mr. Mars Di Bartolomeo on Saturday in Tehran; “today, we had a good meeting with Luxembourgian counterpart and his delegation about parliamentary relations; Luxembourg has ample experiences in banking, investment and financial fields and part of talks focused on mutual investments,” Mr. Larijani told reporters.

“Part of talks addressed crises in the Middle East, especially terrorism and extremism; both sides believed that fighting terrorism entailed a strong collective will by all countries; we also discussed women participation in Iranian parliament. Mr. Bartolomeo as well said that the number of female representatives has been lower than that of male representatives in his fellow parliament as well. Iran’s constitution posits that men and women are equal and that women could win the majority of parliament,” Larijani detailed. “We hope that lifting of sanctions will be a good start for bilateral relations,” he added.

Mr. Bartolomeo for his part told reporters that Iran played a key role in the region and that the country had been waging huge efforts to bring about peace and stability in the region. He also believed that hegemonic powers should cooperate with Iran in the region; “Europe had been experiencing its most violent days during past 70 years and only after it found that the alliance against a common enemy would save them, did it manage to find good days and defeat the enemies; now, countries in EU, once enemies, are now united and friends,” he added. “The EU faces poverty and economic crisis, with migrant crisis now leading its way to European borders; we should cooperate to tackle these problems.”

“Luxumbourg, like Iran, has a centralized geography in Europe; we have a high level of political stability and a coherent social system based on social solidarity,” Mr. Bartolomeo asserted. On Iran’s nuclear issue, he expressed satisfaction for JCPOA, believing that the accord exemplified the fact that both sides had invested more on trust than mistrust.

“Luxembourg enjoys an ideal financial and banking system, with transparency now ruling the ranks and files of the system; a final deal between Iran and 5+1 within future hours would hugely improve financial cooperation with Iran,” he concluded in response to a question about the final talks which would lead to the ultimate implementation day of the JCPOA.