Iran Glad for Sanction Relief, But Wary of US

Ayatollah Khamenei assessed both elections as very crucial and as a competitive national event; “in this competition, win and loss would not be any different, since in any situation, the ultimate victor will be Iranian nation; however, the first important prerequisite for a healthy election is a high and flamboyant turnout in ballot boxes, and with God’s blessings, we will have such promising turnout”, he asserted.

“Companies are overstaffed and underproductive… they don’t want people to be laid off, while foreign investors want to make sure the company is being run efficiently”, Gohari said, describing government-owned firms as particularly bloated.

Despite lingering tensions between Iran and the United States despite the nuclear deal, he said, “the United States can take steps to overcome this mistrust”, he said, such as through implementation of the nuclear agreement. That calls for a carefully calibrated policy on the part of the United States, one that is open to the possibility of better relations with Iran but vigilant about the need to counter its efforts to destabilize the Middle East. Despite its occasional overexuberance about the potential for progress, the Obama administration appears to recognize the complexity of the challenge.

“Even the strongest proponents of this agreement concede that it does no more than delay Iran becoming a nuclear threshold state, while giving Iran a major boost in its ability to pursue regional dominance, to fund extremist groups and foment global conflict”, AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said.

“We have deals that are being worked out with Airbus – all sorts of companies from nuclear technology companies, to irrigation, green energy … a whole range of them”, he said, without elaborating. A careful legal and business assessment of the risks should be undertaken.

On December 31, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran should expand its missile program in response to threats of new USA sanctions.

Republicans Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have pledged to tear up the nuclear deal if elected.

“We will respond to such propaganda stunts and measures meant to harm [us], by more robustly pursuing our lawful missile program and promoting our defense capabilities and national security”, the statement said, as cited by Press TV.

What does all this mean for Iranians anxious to restore connections between the US and Iran? Money-transferring companies like Western Union Co. and MoneyGram International Inc. also don’t operate in Iran. His distrust of the United States has been one of the hallmarks of his leadership.

Iran’s shadow economy has been a breeding ground for corruption and nepotism, and foreign companies will be wary of approaches by local “fixers” who would pay bribes on their behalf.

Banks will be especially wary of not violating the remaining sanctions because they faced hefty fines in the past, lawyers said. The IAEA issued a report on this issue in December that said Iran failed to fully cooperate and provided some answers to investigators that were false.