PAC Pacific Current Group Ltd

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. and its allies are taking steps to help Iran benefit from a landmark nuclear agreement reached last year, including moves to facilitate trade and banking transactions for the Islamic Republic.

"Some of the concerns that Iran has expressed, we are going to work with them to address," Mr. Obama said at a news conference following a summit on nuclear security.

The U.S. Treasury Department is specifically seeking to set clearer investment guidelines for Iran following the removal of most international sanctions on the country in January.

European and Asian bankers have said that business in Iran has been particularly stymied by the inability of foreign banks to conduct U.S. dollar-denominated transactions with the country. Most major international business, particularly in the oil-and-gas sector, is conducted in dollars.

U.S. officials said the Obama administration could assist Iran in concluding such bank transactions.

These officials said Iran wouldn't be allowed to directly enter the U.S. financial system, due to legislation that continues to ban any direct business between American and Iranian banks.

"It is not necessary that we take the approach of them going through dollar-denominated transactions," Mr. Obama said. "It is possible for them to work through European financial institutions as well."

Iranian officials have publicly complained that they haven't benefited enough from the nuclear agreement, citing continued fears about U.S. sanctions.

Mr. Obama said Iran's absence from global trade could mean that it will take a while for the country to attract foreign investment. He said Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East, including recent ballistic-missile tests, won't help Iran's business fortunes.

"It's going to take time over the next several months for companies and their legal departments to feel confident that, in fact, there may not be risks of liability if they do business with Iran," Mr. Obama said.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2016 20:35 ET (00:35 GMT)

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