Unfair to blame US for not doing business with Iran: John Kerry

Foreign companies should not use the United States as an excuse for not doing business in Iran following last year's deal on Tehran's nuclear programme, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.

Kerry is due to meet representatives of British and European banks in London on Thursday to discuss the issue of dealing with Iran under the terms of its deal with world powers. "Businesses should not use the United States as an excuse if they don't want to do business, or if they don't see a good business deal ... that's just not fair, that's not accurate," Kerry told reporters in London.

"We sometimes get used as an excuse in this process," he said. Tehran has accused Washington of dragging its feet in the implementation of the nuclear deal and has blamed remaining US sanctions, which include a ban on Iran-linked transactions in US dollars being processed through the US financial system, for the reluctance of European banks to do business with it.