US eases more sanctions on Iran post nuclear deal

The US has announced new measures which will further ease sanctions on Iran and make it easier for foreign companies to do business with the country following last year's landmark nuclear agreement, a media report said.

The Treasury Department published new guidelines on Friday allowing businesses to do dollar transactions with Iran through offshore banking institutions as long as they do not enter the US financial system, Press TV reported.

The department also removed a blanket ban on foreign transactions with Iranian firms that may be run by individuals who were subject to US sanctions. The Treasury described those people as "specially designated nationals" or SDNs.

Iran and the P5+1 group -- the US, Britain, France, China, Russia plus Germany -- reached the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 14, 2015.

In accordance with the JCPOA, which took effect in January, Iran has undertaken to put limitations on its nuclear programme in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.

The US, however, had continued to maintain sanctions on Iran and a number of Iranian companies and individuals, prompting complaints from Tehran that Washington was failing to implement its side of the deal.

Iran said the US was scaring foreign companies from doing business in or with the country, as they fear punishment for violating sanctions, Press TV reported.

"As has been stated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has remained committed to its commitments," The Guardian quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization, as saying on Friday.

"While the other side -- it is very clear now to public opinion and it is not a secret -- has not really delivered on the promises; that the sanctions would be removed and that banking transactions would go back to normal, that trade would speed up and economic relations would be enhanced. These have not been materialised to the extent that we expected," he added.

According to the new Treasury guidelines, foreign transactions with non-sanctioned entities that were "controlled in whole or in part by an Iranian or Iran-related person on the SDN list" were "not necessarily sanctionable".

--IANS

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