US will be forced to meet JCPOA commitments: Larijani

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani addresses a National Forum on Geopolitical Developments of West Asia in Tehran, April 28, 2016.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the US has to meet its obligations under a nuclear deal after failing to honor them by keeping Tehran locked out of the international financial system.

"The Westerners are not trustworthy, but if they don't fulfill their commitments, we will force them into implementation with our own means," he told a forum in Tehran Thursday.

US and European businesses are reluctant to do trade with Iran over the fear of being penalized by Washington despite the nuclear agreement which requires countries to lift sanctions on Tehran. 

Larijani denounced the "unfair behavior" of the Americans, saying Iran has its "own means to make them regret" their actions, but he didn't elaborate. "The Americans want nobody to make any investment in Iran," he said.

His statements came a day after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the US has resorted to “deception” to obstruct international trade with Iran. 

“On paper, the Americans say banks can trade with Iran but in practice they act in such an Iranophobic way that no trade can take place with Iran,” the Leader told a group of workers in Tehran.

Iranian officials say the US has maintained its hostile policies toward Tehran despite the agreement. Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran over the country's nuclear tests which are not banned under the deal. 

Just last week, a US court authorized the seizure of around $2 billion of frozen Iranian assets in an American bank account.  

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said the expropriation amounted to "blatant theft" and indicated “hostility” toward Iran.

Rouhani warned that the US would have to face up to “all the consequences of this illegal action,” without elaborating.

“The move indicates Washington’s continued hostility against the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said during a Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet tasked a group of top officials with examining the court decision and defending Iran’s “rights.”