The Islamic Republic of Iran will not forget its friends when sanctions are lifted, senior Iranian lawmaker said as latest developments suggest Tehran does not hesitate to deny economic opportunities to those who have succumbed to pressure from third parties .

“The countries that support us in the current situation will have a superior position in the Iranian market in the post-sanctions era,” said the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Vahid Jalalzadeh.

Jalalzadeh made the remarks during a meeting with Italian Ambassador to Tehran Giuseppe Perrone, IRNA reported.

Emphasizing bilateral economic relations, the senior lawmaker said the level of such relations is not commensurate with available capacities.

He said Italy was Iran’s first economic partner in Europe before the United States reinstated its sanctions against the Islamic Republic in 2018 after it resigned from the Iranian multilateral nuclear deal that lifted the sanctions. prohibitions.

The United States, under former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal, officially called Joint Comprehensive Action (JCPOA), and targeted the Iranian economy with what it called a campaign of “maximum pressure” which included draconian sanctions against Tehran and those who cooperated with it.

The sanctions have had a negative impact on the Islamic Republic’s relations with several countries, particularly Italy and South Korea, with which Iran had close ties before the Trump-era sanctions hit the United States. country.

While the two sides wish to develop their relations, Jalalzadeh said, the level of economic relations between Tehran and Rome remains “very limited”.

“Therefore, we hope to see the strengthening of bilateral trade and economic cooperation in the coming period,” he said.

Stressing the importance of strengthening cooperation between the two sides in the era of sanctions, Jalalzadeh said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not forget its friends in the post-sanctions era.

For his part, Perrone lamented the decrease in trade and economic interactions between Iran and Italy, and said his country hopes Italian companies can return to Iran soon so that bilateral interactions can quickly reach their previous level. .

The lifting of sanctions against Iran after the JCPOA strike has led to an unprecedented increase in the presence of Italian companies in Iran. Iran-Italy Joint Chamber of Commerce chairman Ahmad Pourfallah said on Tuesday that Italian companies are expected to return to the Iranian market immediately after the sanctions are lifted.

Iran and the other parties to the JCPOA have held talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to bring the United States back into the deal and lift its anti-Iran sanctions. Although talks have been suspended since Iran’s presidential election, many countries and their international businesses expect the talks to bear fruit and remove anti-Iran bans.

Tehran punishes those who lend themselves to American pressure

Meanwhile, Ebrahim Azizi, vice chairman of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, criticized Seoul’s submissive behavior in the face of secondary US sanctions targeting Iran’s partners.

In remarks on Saturday, Azizi also urged Seoul to immediately release Iran’s frozen assets and abandon its “passive” and “dependent on the United States” policy, and instead strive to protect the interests of Iran. his people.

Relations between Tehran and Seoul deteriorated when the latter succumbed to US pressure and froze billions of Iranian assets in South Korean banks.

Iranian officials have repeatedly criticized Seoul on the issue and demanded the release of the country’s frozen funds.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong on Thursday that the Iranian people are seriously unhappy with the situation, urging Seoul to provide the Islamic Republic with “rapid access” to funds.

Previously, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi ordered trade and finance ministries to outright ban imports of household appliances into the country.

This came after the leader of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, warned that such shipments could cripple local manufacturers.

Although the leader and the president did not link Seoul’s freeze of Iranian funds to the ban on imports of South Korean household appliances, the move has been hailed by many Iranian officials and lawmakers as a punishment against the Iranian government. East Asian countries.

In his remarks on Saturday, Azizi said Iran had the upper hand when it came to taking punitive measures for such acts of submission, including banning imports of South Korean goods.

“Today, a large part of our country’s economic transactions are with South Korea. Therefore, a deterrent action in this direction is to ban products from this country, as this will punish Seoul, ”Azizi said, according to ICANA.

The developments also came as China, one of Iran’s main partners, rejected a US request to reduce oil imports from the Islamic Republic, saying economic and trade cooperation between Beijing and Tehran has always been carried out within the framework of international law.