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Iran Must Stop Looking to Europe for Salvation, Khamenei Says

Khamenei Says Europe's Promises on Nuclear Deal `Empty': Tasnim

(Bloomberg) -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran should give up any hope that European powers want to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal from a U.S. assault.

While Iran would never end relations or deal-making with European countries and there’s a "slim possibility" they’ll salvage the deal, they’ve failed to put up a robust front against U.S. President Donald Trump’s exit from the pact and efforts to crush Iran’s economy with sanctions.

"Their motivation to make an enemy out of the Islamic Republic isn’t fundamentally different from the U.S.’s,” Khamenei said in a televised statement to members of the Assembly of Experts, a top clerical body. "Our own negotiators say they didn’t act on any of their commitments in the nuclear deal. Well, it’s the strongest reason to absolutely not trust them."

Iran-U.S. relations have dominated the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, with the leaders of France, the U.K. and Germany meeting both Trump and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in an effort to bridge a dispute that has destabilized the Persian Gulf and left the multilateral accord teetering on the edge of collapse.

Khamenei said Europe’s efforts, which include a special purpose vehicle for Iranian non-oil trade and a $15 billion credit line requiring sanctions waivers from Trump, amount to "empty words and promises."

To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Tehran at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Paul Abelsky

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