European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that it was too early to drop sanctions imposed on Iran, Reuters reports.

“We think the dropping of sanctions would be too early,” she said in Berlin at a meeting of the conservative CDU and its CSU Bavarian sister party, adding that the sanctions were in place due to Iran’s alleged suppression of its own people.

“We first have to see a change, a fundamental change in Iran for the dropping of sanctions,” von der Leyen added.