New US sanctions violate 2015 nuclear deal, says Iran

Furious over new sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the joint commission that oversees the violations of the Iranian nuclear agreement or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 

Speaking about the complaint, Ali Larijani, speaker of the Parliament of Iran, said the United States had breached the 2015 agreement signed between Iran and the six world powers—China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. 

It was only last week that the Trump administration had imposed a new sanction on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, which inherently designed to carry a nuclear payload. 

“With regard to the imposition of new sanctions by the US, in addition to diplomatic measures, which should be taken, a complaint had to be filed with the relevant commission and this has been done,” Larijani was quoted as saying by the Iranian news media in Tehran.  “The Americans seek to prevent the implementation of the nuclear deal and there is no doubt about this,” he added. 

While Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, “In our view, the nuclear deal has been violated and we will show an appropriate and proportional reaction to this issue.”

Although Iran and the United States have often accused each other of violating the “spirit” of the agreement, it the first official complaint to have reached the JCPOA commission.