Iran accuses U.S. of hampering its banking ties with Europe

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has accused the United States of hampering improvement in relations between Iranian and European banks, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, after nine months of implementation of the nuclear deal, the Western side has not taken any effective steps to comply with its undertakings," CBI governor Valiollah Seif was quoted as saying.

Seif made the remarks at a meeting in Tehran with visiting German Deputy Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries on Wednesday.

He described the United States as one of the most important impediments to the normalization of relations between Iranian and European banks.

"I believe that ties between Iran and Europe are normalizing and returning to the past levels, but there still remains certain concerns which have been caused mostly by the United States," Seif said.

He said Tehran expects European countries to "pressure the United States to comply with its undertakings" under a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers sealed in July 2015.

On Monday, Chairman of Iran-Germany Joint Chamber of Commerce Gholam Hossein Shafe'ei said banking problems hampering the expansion of Iran's trade ties with Europe, particularly Germany, should be resolved.

With the removal of banking problems, Iranian and European companies could have useful talks with each other and develop their ties, Shafe'ei said.

Following the implementation of Iran's nuclear deal in January, Tehran is struggling to restore its ties with European countries which had been affected by the U.S.-led economic and financial sanctions.

The July 2015 deal put an end to the decade-long controversial issue of Iran's nuclear program. Endit