TEHRAN – Iran has not been able to fully reap the benefits of the 2015 nuclear deal due to Washington’s pressure, says Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations.

Kharrazi made the remarks at a conference called “Regional Security in West Asia: Emerging Challenges and Trends” in Tehran on Sunday.

He said the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has not benefited Iran as expected because of the U.S. government’s lack of commitment to the accord and its pressure on European firms and banks, IRIB news reported.

“The Europeans know this as well, but they have resisted America’s pressure to some extent because of their own interests and [because they’re] developing economic relations with Iran,” said Kharrazi who was Iran’s foreign minister from 1997-2005.

Since assuming office, U.S. President Donald trump has tried to put more economic pressure on Iran, especially by targeting Tehran’s banking system. 

In August, Trump signed into law one of the most wide-ranging sanctions measures of the last five years, known as Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which targets Iran, Russia and North Korea with sanctions.

CAATSA expands U.S. sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and enhances the legal basis for existing sanctions against the IRGC.

CAATSA has made it very difficult for Iran to expand its banking relations with the world, said a member of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce.

“Countries and big international companies believe that if they increase their cooperation and investment in Iran’s economy, they might face sanctions,” Mehr news agency quoted Hossein Salimi as saying on Sunday.

MH/PA