Foreign Ministers of countries involved in the Geneva historic nuclear deal on November 24^th, 2013. (Photo: xaluan.com)

(VOVworld) – The US and EU announced on Monday that they had begun loosening some economic sanctions, the first concrete steps towards encouraging Iran to make more concessions in negotiations on its nuclear program.

In a press conference on Monday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry had approved a document to ease the sanctions imposed on Iran. They include the halting of the limitations of exports of petrochemical and automobile components, gold, and other kinds of precious metals.

Psaki said that although it would be difficult to reach comprehensive nuclear deals in future negotiations, Washington will still maintain efforts to resolve the issue via means of diplomacy.

On the same day, the European Union decided to discontinue a certain number of embargoes on Iran for six months after Tehran began to implement the preliminary nuclear deal reached last November. Like the US, the EU will lift restrictions on Iran's sales of petrochemicals, insurance for oil tankers, and allow the resumption of trade in gold and precious metals.