Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.4/ Trend, R. Zamanov
Head of the Iran World Trade Center told Trend Agency that the process of lifting sanctions imposed on Iran depends on their degrees and may take several years.
Mohammad Reza Sabzalipour said that "Nobody, not even the people who imposed the sanctions, can comment on when exactly they will be fully removed. The process may start one month after the warming of relations between Iran and the US and take several years. It's not predictable at all."
The United States and the European Union want Iran to comply with the UN Security Council's resolutions and stop enriching uranium. Israel and some Western countries have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, stressing that it is developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and electricity production.
Based on the latest reports, the unilateral sanction of the United States and the EU have dropped Iran's oil exports from 2.2 million barrels to one million barrels per day. The sanctions have forced China, India, and Japan to decrease their oil imports from Iran.
Sabzalipour said that the sanctions are not of the same origin. According to him, there are four kinds of sanctions imposed on Iran:
1. Sanctions imposed by the UN Security council.
2. Sanctions approved by the US Senate which have become law the US president is supposed to enforce.
3. Sanctions that are not approved by the US senate, and the president himself is in charge of them.
4. Sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Head of the Iranian World Trade Center added that, "Even if the negotiations between Tehran and Washington are fruitful and the two countries establish friendly relations, we can't expect the sanctions to be lifted immediately. If the process starts, the first sanctions to be lifted are ones that have not been approved by the US senate that the president himself is in charge of . Second, EU sanctions will be lifted; after that, the US senate will start the process of annulling sanctions against Iran. Lastly, the UN Security Council will lift its sanctions.
In the past days, following Iran's recent stance on the nuclear issue, some political and international figures requested the US senate to halt putting further pressure on Iran. For example, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton asked Washington to create the best atmosphere possible for talks with Iran in Geneva. "I would like to get to Geneva with the best possible atmosphere to really have these negotiations," Ashton said.
So the US Senate postponed a fresh round of sanctions on Iran until after the upcoming talks between Tehran and the P5+1.
Iran and the P5+1 are scheduled to hold a new round of talks in Geneva on October 15-16.