Iran Threatens To Withdraw From Nuclear Deal If US Renews Sanctions

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Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Admiral Ali Shamkhani threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Deal if Washington decides to renew sanctions on Tehran.

Shamkhani said: “If you extend the sanctions, this will mean kicking away the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and we will confront it through implementing powerful technical packages,” he said, without elaboration.

This warning came as the House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to restore the bans in breach of a nuclear accord.

U.S. lawmakers voted 419 to one for a 10-year re-authorization of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which was initially adopted in 1996 because Tehran was pursuing a non-civilian nuclear program.

The ISA will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed, and the bill must be passed by the Senate before being signed by the U.S. president into law.

Iranian officials warned the U.S. against renewing the ban in light of the fact that Iran has had the sanctions lifted on the back of its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, known as JCPOA.

The agreement was struck in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group comprising the U.S., France, China, Britain, Russia and Germany.

Shamkhani further noted, “The Iranian nation is an independence-seeking one. U.S. leaders cannot sit in glass palaces saying they would either tear up the JCPOA or renegotiate it.”

For his part, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to Khamenei, also said if Washington annulled the JCPOA at Israel’s behest it would cost it dearly.

By Adel al-Salmi, original source

Al Bawaba News

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