PHOTO: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) with New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully on Saturday


Iran’s top officials pressed the US on Saturday over continued economic and financial restrictions, despite January’s implementation of the July 2015 nuclear agreement.

Both Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Secretary of the National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, criticized Washington over its supposed failure to remove sanctions and continued threat to European companies if they deal with Tehran

At a press conference with visiting New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Shamkhani declared, “Despite the good will displayed by the Islamic Republic of Iran in implementing JCPOA [the agreement] and effective contribution of some parties to the deal in accelerating the implementation, the US dubious moves have been source of major concern for Iranians.”

The Rouhani Government is under pressure from critics, including the Supreme Leader, who have accused it of being weak over the US and the threat to Iran’s economic recovery after the agreement. Washington added to the challenge by maintaining and extending sanctions on Iranian companies and individuals connected with ballistic missile testing, and by refusing access to the US financial system.

See Iran Daily, May 21: Rouhani to Top Ayatollahs — We Will Bring Economic Recovery

Over the past two weeks, US Secretary of State John Kerry has tried to reassure Iran that it can re-establish links with European firms and banks. He was joined last Thursday in a statement by the Foreign Ministers of France, Britain, and Germany: “We will not stand in the way of permitted business activity with Iran, and we will not stand in the way of international firms or financial institutions engaging with Iran, as long as they follow all applicable laws.”

However, at his press conference with McCully, insisted that the four countries “are expected to take practical steps as well.”

He continued, “We have not yet achieved what we were supposed to do and more steps should be taken by the US.”

Shamkhani also used his statement on Saturday to fire a shot in the continuing battle over the civil wars in Syria and Yemen:

We believe double-standards will achieve nothing in dealing with terrorism.

In the Syrian context, we believe in a totally Syrian dialogue to decide and implement Syrian national will.

The international community has largely been silent about genocide underway in Yemen. Al Qa’eda has proliferated, women and children have been killed, the country’s infrastructure has been devastated, and the public languish in poverty.