Senior Cleric: Iran Must Retaliate For US Violation Of Nuclear Deal

White House officials said Thursday that Obama remained fully committed to implementing the deal and that the renewal would have no effect at all on the sanctions relief Iran is receiving.

The nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers lifted a variety of worldwide sanctions in exchange for limitations on the Iranian nuclear program.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate in support of renewing the Iran Sanctions Act to extend the existing sanctions framework for 10 years.

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi has called on the U.S.to stop implementation of a bill on extending sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Mehr reported on December 5.

President Xi Jinping visited Iran in January on what both foreign ministers hailed as a “historic” visit, signing a series of agreements that aim to build economic ties worth up to $600 billion within the next 10 years. President Trump’s arrival at the White House is expected to further intensify it as he vows to renegotiate the terms of the deal and increase its enforcement.

Speaking later Sunday to another conference in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry sang an entirely different tune, defending the Iran nuclear deal and arguing that its monitoring provisions will allow for the ability to detect any nuclear progress made by Tehran, “in which case every option that we have today is available to us then”.

They described the new US move concerning Iran sanctions as a blow to the JCPOA.

The two countries, along with five other world powers – Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia and the European Union, ended a decades-long dispute over the Iranian nuclear programme, when they reached a nuclear deal in July 2015.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini has also said that he believes the sanctions bill is a breach of the JCPOA and threatened “retaliation”. The U.S. says Iran remains in compliance with the nuclear deal despite its work on ballistic missiles that could carry such weapons, though State Department spokesman John Kirby said in July that the U.S. still has “very valid concerns” about those programs.

“It is obvious that we have all options and alternatives in Iran [to respond to] the U.S. violation of its commitments”, Zarif pointed out.

“While the IAEA is the watchdog responsible for monitoring Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA, it is up to the United States and other parties of the JCPOA to respond to violations”.

Congress approved the Iran Sanctions Act 20 years ago to block major foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector.

“The growth came at a time when government’s revenues had plummeted to an all-time low following the sharp decline in global crude prices”, underscored the president adding “implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) led to a soar in Iran’s oil exports and prevented falling oil prices to negatively affect the country’s economy”.