Iran says world not fulfilling nuke deal commitments
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that world powers have not fulfilled their commitments under the landmark nuclear deal, harming Iranian economic growth.
Speaking on state TV, Rouhani said that "if the other party had acted properly, we would be in a better situation today." He said Iran still cannot access its foreign assets, although it is able to export more oil and to access the international banking system.
He said the U.S. Congress, Israel and other regional countries are thwarting the implementation of the deal.
Spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. State Department has assessed that Iran is meeting its obligations under the deal and "we're meeting ours." Kirby said the U.S. would continue to abide by its commitments under the agreement, which he described as having a "stabilizing effect on the world."
The deal, which went into effect in January, limited Iran's nuclear program in return for lifting some sanctions.
Iran has repeatedly complained that it has fulfilled its end of the deal while all the agreed-upon sanctions have not yet been lifted. Tehran is still struggling to attract large-scale foreign investment and many multinational companies remain fearful of U.S. prosecution or fines for doing business with Iran. The U.S. government still maintains some of its own sanctions against doing business with Iran that are outside the scope of last year's deal.
The U.S.-based company Boeing Co. signed a deal with Tehran involving dozens of planes and worth as much as $25 billion. But the agreement has been criticized by both republican and democratic politicians. In July the U.S. House of Representatives passed two measures that would block the sale, but the issue has not yet reached the senate.