TEHRAN, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced a list of imported goods to be banned in a move to protect domestic products, state IRIB TV reported on Sunday.
All the banned items have their similar domestic alternatives, Farhad Noori, the managing director of Commerce Services of Trade Development Organization, told IRIB.
"The government possesses enough currency at its disposal. However, regarding the monetary policies, we should not allocate the currency to the imports of those articles which have their similar domestic alternatives," Noori said.
However, the organization has excluded the articles from the list which are not produced locally to meet domestic demands, he said.
The list of the items subject to the imports bans will be announced soon, he said, adding that "we expect people to support domestic products."
On Saturday, Mohammad Shariatmadari, Iran's minister of industry, mines and commerce, announced the ban in order to counter U.S. financial pressures against the Islamic republic.
The move aims to protect domestic producers and manage the outflow of currency, he said.
Washington has threatened Tehran of the "toughest sanctions" if the Islamic republic does not agree to renegotiate over the 2015 international nuclear deal.
The U.S. administration, under President Donald Trump, has claimed that Iranian nuclear deal has not resulted in peace and stability in the Middle East, and demanded Iran to reduce its presence in the region and stop ballistic missile development.
Trump decided on May 8 to quit the Iranian nuclear deal and vowed to reimpose sanctions, including oil embargo, on Tehran.
Also, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has announced a list of 12 demands for Iran, promising "unprecedented sanctions" if the Iran does not stop its nuclear program or reduce its presence in the region.
