Al-Monitor | Esfandyar Batmanghelidj: As the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) enters its third year of implementation, an atmosphere of uncertainty has slowed the pace of post-sanctions trade and investment. In Tehran, government figures have sought to lay blame for Iran�s faltering economic recovery on a�concerted American campaign�to undermine the agreement and dissuade investment. In a�September interview�on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pointed to the atmosphere of uncertainty as a part of US President�Donald Trump�s strategy�to undermine the deal. He said, �I think he has made a policy of being unpredictable, and now he's turning that into being unreliable as well. He has violated the letter, spirit, everything of the deal.�


Another view has been promulgated in Washington�� one that points emphatically at risks endemic to Iran�s economy, particularly in regard�to the economic activities of the Islamic�Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Since President Trump decertified the Iran nuclear deal in October, American officials and advocacy groups have been even more vocal about these risks.

In October,�at a briefing�alongside Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared that �both of our countries believe that those who conduct business with the [IRGC], any of their entities � European companies or other companies around the globe � really do so at great risk.� Just last week, Sigal Mandelker, treasury undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated the following�in her testimony�to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing�and Urban Affairs: �In our engagements both here in the United States and abroad, we have made clear that companies doing business in Iran face substantial risks of transacting with the IRGC or IRGC-linked entities.�


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