@BroderJonathan
USED CLOTHING, toiletries and gifts worth no more than $100—for a decade, these were among the few Iranian products allowed into the U.S., thanks to international sanctions. But when the Iran nuclear deal went into effect in January, Iran was suddenly allowed to resume exports of its famous Persian carpets and pistachios. Iranians also looked forward to reviving their oil industry and gaining access to tens of billions of dollars in previously frozen petroleum revenues. Perhaps most important, U.S. officials assured Tehran that foreign investment would return, finally ending Iran’s pariah status. ”As soon as we suspend our major sanctions,” Wendy Sherman, the lead U.S. negotiator, had said in 2014, “the world will flood into Iran.”
Today, nearly six months after the deal was implemented, Iran is still waiting. It can’t get access to most of the estimated $100 billion it holds in foreign banks. The reason: U.S. laws, which weren’t included in the nuclear deal, are still highly restrictive. The foreign business hasn’t materialized because big European and Asian commercial banks are afraid they might inadvertently violate those non-nuclear U.S. sanctions and face hefty penalties. Tehran is angry and says Washington is preventing the country from rejoining the world economy.