Iran will defend itself against any aggression -foreign minister

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Sunday that Tehran would strongly defend itself against any military or economic aggression and called on European states to do more to preserve a nuclear agreement his country signed with them.

Speaking in a news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim, Zarif said his country wanted to build balanced relations with its Gulf Arab neighbours and that it had proposed signing a non-aggression pact with them.

Iraq stands with Iran and is willing to act as an intermediary between its neighbour and the United States, Hakim said, adding that Baghdad does not believe an "economic blockade" is fruitful, a reference to U.S. sanctions.