Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister has said in order for Tehran to implement fully the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action then problems such as banking and finance restrictions and restrictions on the sale of Iranian oil should be sorted out first.

Iran Press/Iran news: Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi went on to say that Iran followed a policy of resistance and maximum use of its resources in response to the Trump administration's 'maximum pressure policy'.

Asked how has Iran confronted the US 'maximum pressure policy', Araghchi said: "In the past year we have been subjected to a maximum pressure policy, including a US attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero," Iran Press reported.

"In response we have had a very active foreign policy, very active diplomacy, adopting a policy of resistance and maximum use of our resources and capabilities. Iranian embassies and diplomatic missions abroad have been working to counter this US policy," he said.

Araghchi poignantly added: "It was particularly important for us not to allow the United States to form an international coalition against us. Over the nuclear issue, before the JCPOA was signed, the Americans had drummed up an international coalition against us, and we were determined not to allow that to happen again. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) effectively stopped an international consensus against us."

 The Deputy Foreign Minister added: "The Americans tried to form an international gathering against us in Warsaw, Poland, but generally most countries gave it 'the cold shoulder'. The Warsaw gathering was not successful -- definitely a setback for the Trump administration. In fact, there is a split between the Europeans and the Americans, and it is the Americans who have become isolated as they pursue their policies against Iran and JCPOA."
Araghchi went on to say: "The Americans have re-imposed sanctions which were lifted when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed. They are trying to intimidate [European and Asian] companies and banks, to keep them away from Iran, forcing them to quit doing business with Iran. Under such conditions it is the heavy responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to counter US sanctions, to find ways of bypassing sanctions, to reintroduce foreign firms into the Iranian market, to open up ways of selling our oil to the world, and to earn foreign currency."

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