BRUSSELS. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has expressed support for a plan to partially lift international economic sanctions against Iran as part of a recent deal in Geneva on Tehran's nuclear program.
Speaking before a foreign minister-level meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on Monday, Asselborn said he thought the sanctions were a disaster for Iran and that they ought to be alleviated to enable the country to revive its economy. He said Iran has a huge unemployment rate.
At the same time, the main purpose of the Geneva deal, the minister said, is to prohibit Iran from enriching uranium or obtaining plutonium without the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He also argued it might prove useful to draw Iran into international efforts to settle the conflict in Syria.