Zarif: US pledges not to punish banks engaged with Iran

EghtesadOnline: The United States has promised not to punish European banks that facilitate transactions with Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

News ID: ۷۳۷۱۵۰

25 September 2016

He made the remarks on Saturday in an exclusive interview with Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency.

Zarif who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he received assurances from US counterpart John Kerry that greater efforts would be made to allay the undue concerns of European banks, reports IRNA.

'The US says they encourage everybody outside US to engage in business with Iran. Of course, we believe that was not sufficient, so we asked them to take further action to convince and actually remove the concerns of foreign institutions, particularly banks, about working with Iran,' he said.

Tehran remains to be critical of the global big banks as they have failed to reestablish financial ties with the Islamic Republic following the implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1, known as the JCPOA.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action requires complete removal of sanctions against Iran and full political and economic engagement with the country.
But the Western governments, especially the United States, have so far refrained from providing assurances for the global banks that engagement with the Islamic Republic is quite safe.