By The Associated Press – Jan. 27, 2014
A top U.S. Treasury official advised companies on Monday to “hold off” doing business in Iran because many of the sanctions against the country are still in place, despite the interim nuclear deal.
Speaking in Turkey, which is looking to expand business opportunities with its neighbor Iran, U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said that a significant portion of sanctions against Iran remained, including in the banking, energy and shipping sectors.
“Iran is not open for business,” Cohen said. “Businesses interested in engaging in Iran really should hold off. The day may come when Iran is open for business, but the day is not today.”
“What we are working toward is the possibility of a long-term, comprehensive resolution with the Iranians, in which they demonstrate that their nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes,” Cohen said.
It is expected that the main issues of the Iranian nuclear activities be discussed between world powers and Iranian regime in the next round of talks which is to be held next month in New York.
