The central bank governor said the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control should issue guidelines encouraging European banks to be more receptive to Iran.
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The US Secretary of State John Kerry said that he was able to make some progress on a number of key issues at a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Before leaving for the region, Kerry would meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif tomorrow to discuss implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in NY on April 19, the State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Tehran since April 1980, but Kerry got to know Zarif while negotiating the nuclear deal, and the two speak fairly regularly.
He declined to say whether Kerry would provide Zarif with any notice of action the administration might take in regard to sanctions relief.
Tehran wants the United States to do more to remove obstacles imposed by US sanctions that remain in place, which have caused foreign banks to be cautious about resuming business with Iran for fear of triggering penalties from the United States.
U.S. Department of State clarified that its foreign policy is committed to responsibilities regarding the nuclear deal; however, is confronted with the banking system’s demands for clarification on the extent of legitimacy of transactions with Iran, given that the country still has other sanctions imposed.
Over the weekend, Zarif said he would ask the United States to ease restrictions on non-American banks doing business with the Islamic Republic, saying it would help reassure Iranians over the nuclear deal. “And we stand by what the secretary [of state] said, that it’s entirely possible that they can use some of this funding to support terrorist networks”. “It requires having access to the USA financial system”.
The Obama administration has denied any plans to allow Iran access to the US financial system or the use of the dollar, but several members of Congress insist that they are getting mixed signals on the issue. “We made some progress on it”, he said.
Iran, along with Russian Federation, has consistently backed Assad, despite repeated calls for his ouster by the Syrian opposition.
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The U.S. has been “fulfilling” its commitment to the JCPOA, said White House spokesman John Earnest on Friday.
