Obama says Iran's reintegration into global economy to take time

US President Barack Obama said on Friday it will take time for Iran to rejoin the global economy.

"It will take time for Iran to reintegrate into the global economy, but Iran is already beginning to see the benefit of this deal," AFP quoted Obama as saying at a meeting of world powers in Washington.

He further emphasized that the Iran nuclear deal has been successful so far, but emphasized that more work still needs to be done to implement the agreement.

"Full and continued implementation is going to take the same kind of cooperation and consultation," Reuters quoted Obama as saying at the Nuclear Security Summit.

Iran saw a series of draconian economic sanctions lifted in mid-January when a nuclear deal that it had sealed with the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany – was eventually implemented.

The lifting of the sanctions has so far best manifested itself in a rise in the country’s oil sales as well as orders for purchases of planes.

Nevertheless, international businesses are still wary about doing business with Iran given that restrictions in trading with the country in dollar remain.   

Earlier this week, unnamed officials in Washington were quoted by the media as saying that he Obama administration may soon allow dollars to be used in doing business with Iran.

The Associated Press said in a report that the Obama administration may soon tell foreign governments and banks they can start using the dollar in some instances to facilitate business with Iran in what could provide Iran with the best of the removal of the US-led sanctions.

The AP has quoted unnamed officials as saying that the Treasury Department is considering issuing a general license that would permit offshore financial institutions to access dollars for foreign currency trades in support of legitimate business with Iran.

If approved, the new guidance would allow dollars to be used in currency exchanges as long as no Iranian banks are involved, reported AP. “No Iranian rials can enter into the transaction, and the payment wouldn't be able to start or end with American dollars. The ban would still apply if the final payment is intended for an Iranian individual or business on a US sanctions blacklist,” it added.

The complications over using the dollar have already made Iran adopt an initiative to ditch the greenback and trade with other countries through other currencies.

Last Thursday, Pakistan’s media reported that the country is working on a plan to switch from the dollar to the euro in trading with Iran.

A similar scheme was reported in February to have been put on the agenda of the Brazilian government.  

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