22 April 2016•Update: 28 April 2016
By Esra Kaymak Avci
WASHINGTON
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, will have U.S. sanctions relief on the agenda when they meet Friday, a spokesman said Thursday.
"I can certainly affirm for you that in these discussions with Foreign Minister Zarif tomorrow, I fully expect that they will continue to talk about the sanctions relief process," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
"And the degree to which banks, foreign and domestic, as well as institutions foreign and domestic are evaluating their options under the JCPOA.”
The JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is the formal name of the nuclear agreement.
Kirby added that no Treasury Department officials would participate in the meeting. Treasury officials are charged with placing sanctions or removing them.
The meeting comes as Tehran complains that the sanctions have not been lifted since signing the deal.
Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activates in exchange for a relief of sanctions, according to the deal.
The meeting in New York on Friday will be the second this week between the two diplomats.
