National
0

US Under Pressure to Fulfill JCPOA Terms

US Under Pressure to Fulfill JCPOA Terms
US Under Pressure to Fulfill JCPOA Terms

Iran and the European parties to last year's nuclear agreement are pressuring the United States to effectively implement its commitments.

"There has been progress on implementing various aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but there have been some weaknesses on the US part," Mohammad Javad Zarif said, using the formal title of the nuclear deal.

"With the pressure we and our European partners are putting on the Americans, we expect that their commitments will not remain merely on paper and they will get more active in fulfilling them," he told ICANA on Tuesday.

Iran acceded to temporary curbs on its nuclear program under the action plan in the expectation that it would end crippling international sanctions and clear the path for Iran's reentry into global markets.

But much to its frustration, foreign investors and bankers have held back from the Iranian economy, citing the remaining non-nuclear US restrictions. As a result, few deals have gone through since the JCPOA took effect in January.

US sanctions, imposed over allegations of terrorism sponsorship and human rights violations, include a ban on the use of the US dollar to clear Iran-linked transactions through the US financial system.

Overseas firms and banks have learned a lesson from what some of their counterparts went through in the past that a breach of the ban, even though unwittingly, could result in hefty US fines and this has made them unwilling to undertake trade with Iranians.

Tehran has called on the United States to do more to remove obstacles to the banking sector so that businesses feel comfortable with investing in Iran without penalties.

It has sought European leverage to secure better terms from the United States, asking the European Union to put pressure on Washington to let it into the global financial system.

"A successful trend has been followed in many areas of JCPOA implementation," Zarif said.

Financialtribune.com