Iran's foreign minister has called on the United States to encourage investors to engage with Tehran.
Speaking at a news conference in Tehran a day after Western powers said they back legal business with Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that "more serious and concrete actions must be taken" by the United States to spur investment in Iran.
Zarif said that "obstacles in the past decade on economic cooperation between Iran and other countries were created due to hostile American policies and sanctions."
International sanctions that were imposed against Iran over its nuclear program were lifted as a result of a nuclear deal signed in 2015 and implemented in January.
But the United States has maintained other sanctions that target Tehran's alleged sponsorship of armed factions in the Middles East and its ballistic missile program.
European banks that have subsidiaries in the United States have been slow to resume business with Iran amid concerns about being prosecuted in the United States for violating those U.S. sanctions.
