Analysts Urge US to Remove Remaining Anti-Iran Sanctions

According to a report by Iran Newspaper, as translated by IFP, a majority of economists and political activists believe that the US permission to Boeing and Airbus to sell commercial aircraft to Iran, which was issued under the pressure of international community and Iran’s active economic and political diplomacy, can be considered as a significant step in the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). They say, the US government should also adopt further measures hereafter to remove the remaining banking and other economic obstacles hindering the full implementation of JCPOA.

 

Assurance to Financial Firms

In experts’ view, the permission for plane sales could be an assurance to the world’s major financial firms to initiate interactions and transactions with Iran; therefore, one can be hopeful that the world’s major banks would launch dealings and transactions with Iran, which have yet to be fulfilled due to US incomplete implementation of its commitments.

Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referred to the US sabotage in the implementation of JCPOA, and noted, “The Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, of the US Treasury Department goes out and tells these people that it’s OK to do business with Iran, but—and the buts and ifs are so long. So at the end of the day, these banks say we’ll take the safe road. We’ll forget about Iran. And that has been the outcome. […] Even the US government took six or seven months to give the license to Airbus to sell 17 out of 118 planes they requested. Well, fortunately they gave a license to Boeing to sell 80 of the 88 planes they requested.”

 

Gaps in the Complex Sanctions

As regards the existing gaps in the complex sanctions, Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian economist commented that the license given to Airbus and Boeing will definitely have psychological impacts on the investors and large financial firms. This is particularly important since the US is constrained to give momentum to the implementation of JCPOA under the pressure of Iran and the Europeans.

He went on to say that there appeared a big rift in the oldest and most complicated sanctions against Iran; therefore, such serious gaps will have influence on non-nuclear sanctions as well. As Boeing is one of the major financial firms of the US and the world whose financial interactions with various economic sectors would affect other sectors too.

Laylaz highlighted that Iran’s active diplomacy caused a serious split between the Europeans and the US line-up. The US and Europeans, who previously had convergent policies due to a lack of proper management of our diplomacy, are now eager to establish business relationships with Iran, consequently losing their unity.

Laylaz added, “We have entered into an era that the heavy atmosphere of the international community against Iran is not there anymore. The world’s unity against so-called Iran’s danger has dissolved, indicating Iran’s rational and active diplomacy.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the recent summit in New York and Iran’s political influence, and said, “We have realised an unprecedented gap between the US and European countries.”

“European leaders also voiced their discontent with the US double-standard approach in the implementation of JCPOA, and the issue was explicitly passed to the Americans during a meeting of the Group 5+1 member states by Iran and Europe,” he noted.

A Good Sign for JCPOA Implementation

Iran’s ex-minister of economic affairs and finance, Tahmasb Mazaheri, in an interview with Iran acknowledged that the permission given for plane sales is a good sign for the full implementation of JCPOA.

He stressed that the US has been coerced into an executable process which, at the end of the day, will facilitate the path and help the accurate implementation of the deal.

Emphasizing the US dishonesty and Iranians’ distrust of their intentions, Mazaheri said, “Despite the good signs, one still cannot be sure whether the US will remain loyal to its commitments or not, because they indicated that their guarantees have been invalid so far and it turned out that the US has no desire to implement JCPOA fully and correctly.”

He added that Iranians cannot trust the Americans due to the policies adopted by the US during the history; however, he added, giving permission to Boeing and Airbus can be considered as a good sign to fully implement the JCPOA and consequently the deal will bring economic benefits to Iran.