Iran says U.S. President Donald Trump's hostility to the 2015 nuclear deal is dampening foreign investment in Iran's energy sector, despite the lifting of sanctions.
Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters on Sunday that the uncertainty over the future of the agreement, which Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap, is scaring off potential investors.
In 2015, six world powers led by the U.S. signed an agreement with Iran that aims to curb its nuclear efforts in exchange for lifting crippling economic sanctions.
American law stipulates that the Iran deal needs to be recertified every 90 days to ensure no new sanctions are imposed by Congress. In addition, the U.S. must renew the waiver of the sanctions every four months, which Trump has threatened not to do unless the terms of the deal are improved.
Should Trump decline to renew the waiver, the economic sanctions will be restored and the deal will be rendered moot.
Iran hopes to attract more than $150 billion in investments to rebuild its energy industry after years of sanctions.
Last year, it signed a $5 billion gas deal with France's Total S.A. and a Chinese oil company to develop a massive offshore gas field.
