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Iranian FM urges US to remove "psychological remnants" of sanctions

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday the United States needs to remove the "psychological remnants" of sanctions on his country in implementing the nuclear deal dubbed as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"I believe while the United States on paper has removed all the sanctions, the psychological remnants of many years of sanctions are still there," Mohammad-Javad Zarif told a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende.

"I believe the United States needs to take a much more proactive role in removing these psychological remnants," he said, adding that the Iranian people need to see Washington's action in its commitment to implement the nuclear deal.

Zarif, who is in Norway to attend the two-day Oslo Forum conference on conflict mediation, noted that it is important for everybody to realize that an international agreement will be sustainable if everybody feels that they are making gains from the agreement.

"We believe that JCPOA was a win-win agreement. Its implementation must also be a win-win implementation so that everybody feels there are benefits," he said.

Mogherini, who also attended the event, said the European Union is actively encouraging cooperation with Iran and developments have been "in the right direction."

Mogherini said, "We are very actively engaging with the business community and with the banks in Europe and elsewhere outside the Europe to encourage engaging in Iran."

The EU foreign policy chief noted that she headed an "unprecedented delegation" to Tehran a few months ago to open channels of cooperation between Iran and the European Union in different fields.

"I can share with you one data, which is that in the first four months of this year trade between Iran and the European Union increased by 22 percent (compared with last year)," Mogherini said.

She cautioned that there are challenges in the efforts and progress would take more time, but "we have already seen developments in the right direction."

"I can express here with the strongest possible tone that Europe is committed to make sure that the Iranian citizens can benefit from the lifting of the sanctions," Mogherini said. Enditem