October 08, 2021
The former head of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), Mohammad-Reza Modoudi, says most countries don’t want to trade with Iran because that brings them under pressure from the United States, a much more important trade partner.
Speaking to the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), he said those countries include even neighboring states like Iraq, which naturally trade substantially with Iran.
Modoudi headed trade promotion under the Rohani Administration and was just replaced last month.
He said another major obstacle is Iran’s refusal to abide by the banking rules of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which means no major bank wants to do any business with Iran.
But the bottom line, he said, is, “Most countries are not willing to risk trade with Iran to avoid the US punishment, because for them trade with the US is more important.”
Beyond FATF and the US sanctions, he said Iran needs to improve the quality of its products if it ever wants to be a major presence in international trade.
Modoudi said only a few Iranian products are high quality, such as petrochemicals, steel and some mining products.
