Iran’s top diplomat decries U.S. ‘coercion’

“Our defense budget, particularly our spending on military hardware is less than a 10th of what Saudi Arabia spends on military hardware and I find it rather freakish that the United States expresses concern over [an] Iranian missile program, which is defensive and doesn’t violate any United Nations resolution”, he said.

A police officer guards a checkpoint at the Seehof hotel during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, January 20, 2016.

These new sanctions serve as an important reminder that despite the removal of certain nuclear weapons-related sanctions against Iran, serious tensions remain.

Senator Bob Corker is the first USA senator to confirm reports by Reuters that there was a link between the Obama administration’s delaying sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile program and efforts to free Americans held prisoner there.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Davos for the World Economic Forum, said the ballistic program was part of Iran’s right to legitimate self-defense, and said the prospect of restoring U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations remains “far away” despite the nuclear deal. We believe the sanctions are illegal.

“It shows that the United States has an addiction which has been very hard for it to overcome”, Zarif said, specifying, “Its addiction to pressure, addiction to coercion, addiction to sanctions”. Now, however, Tehran has convinced the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that all terms of the deal are being complied with, and the world can be sure that Iran has no nuclear weapons ambition.

It accused Iran of meddling in its neighbors’ affairs, and causing conflict in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and criticized “persistent lies promoted by the Tehran regime”. The minister said they had no plans to meet. As per Business Standard, State Secretary John Kerry said that the USA government will repay $400 million debt and $1.3 billion interest to Iran.

Nor is it clear that the more moderate factions that prevailed upon Iran’s supreme leader to endorse the nuclear agreement will come out on top in future struggles with anti-Western hard-liners.