Iranian Speaker Urges Administration to Retaliate US Breach of JCPOA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani slammed the US extension of anti-Iran sanctions as a flagrant violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), calling on the Iranian administration to take retaliatory measures under a parliamentary law.
Addressing a parliament session on Sunday, Larijani decried the US Congress’ approval of a bill extending sanctions against Iran for ten more years -Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)- as a breach of the JCPOA, a nuclear agreement between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) that came into force in January.
He also described the US president’s inability to defy the congressional decision as a sign of lack of credibility, saying Obama behaved in an “undignified manner” on the conduct by the Congress, which once endorsed the JCPOA, but is now showing complete disregard for it.
His comments came after the US Senate voted 99-0 to extend the ISA for another decade. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives nearly unanimously in November, and congressional aides said they expected Obama would sign it.
Larijani then reminded President Hassan Rouhani’s administration of its obligations under a parliamentary law to retaliate any breach of the JCPOA by the other parties to the deal.
Under the law, passed by the parliament in October last year, the administration should take retaliatory measures immediately and report back to the legislature, he added.
