Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani blamed the US administration for keeping anti-Iran sanctions in place though it was supposed to terminate them under last year’s nuclear agreement, saying Americans are obstructing the implementation of the deal. In a meeting with business people in Qom on Thursday, Larijani took a swipe at the West for shirking duties to ease economic sanctions on Iran, although Tehran has completely fulfilled its part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on its nuclear program, Tasnim News Agency reported.
“Despite an increase in Iran’s oil exports after the JCPOA implementation, the crux of the problem still exists, meaning that the sanctions have not been fully lifted,” he said.
The speaker noted that only the third and fourth-rate western banks have been allowed to work with Iran, while major banks are still afraid of cooperation and investment.
“The western side had undertaken to create incentives for investment in Iran, but it failed to do so and even threw in a wrench,” he said.
The speaker called for Iran’s retaliatory measures, touching on a litany of anti-Iran bills that the US Congress has passed to discourage other countries from investing in Iran.
Larijani stressed that such conduct runs counter to their commitments under the JCPOA. The nuclear accord between Iran and major powers took effect in January and was supposed to terminate nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation has been hampered mainly due to US policies.
