Nuclear Program

The Chairman of the Swedish parliament's Foreign Policy Commission said in 2008 that Iran has a right to civilian nuclear technology. He also supported diplomatic means to find a solution to the issue that acceptable to both sides.In 2007, Christofer Gyllenstierna, Swedish Ambassador to Iran, claimed that, because traders and businessmen ultimately make investment decisions in Sweden, economic sanctions will not affect Sweden’s trade with Iran.In February 2009, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 opposed a list of additional stricter sanctions proposed by the EU3

EU3

EU3 can refer to the following:* EU three: France, Germany and the United Kingdom.* Europa Universalis III: a computer game by Paradox Interactive....

against the Islamic Republic.

In July 2009, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt insisted that dialogue is the only solution to the Iranian nuclear situation, saying that the European parliament faced difficult choices when world powers restarted talks with Tehran to halt Iranian uranium enrichment in exchange for political and economic incentives.

Economic Relationship

Christofer Gyllenstierna, Sweden’s Ambassador to Iran, said at a symposium in Tehran in 2007 that Sweden has potential markets in Iran. He also said that Iran’s capabilities and possibilities have attracted the attention of Swedish businesses. He claimed Sweden planned on increasing mutual trade cooperation with Iran.In 2003, Sweden and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU), in which Sweden recommended Iran be given membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and, in turn, Sweden would implement industrial, mining, and telecommunication projects inside Iran.Since the UN Security Council and the European Union began imposing stricter sanctions, however, Swedish-Iranian bilateral trade has declined. Bilateral trade between the two reached only $500 million in 2007.