New Sanctions Mean End of Nuclear Talks
(FNA)- Senior parliamentary officials in Tehran warned on Saturday that Iran would stop negotiating with the world powers in case the US Congress approves any new sanction against the country.
"If the US or any member of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) imposes a new sanction against Iran, it will be against the spirit of the negotiations and in that case the Islamic Republic of Iran will have reservations about continuing the talks," Rapporteur of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said.
Naqavi Hosseini blamed the US for the prolonged nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers, and said, "Washington should pave the way for reaching a final agreement by avoiding issues which are outside the framework of the nuclear talks."
He reiterated that Iran has specific redlines in the nuclear talks, and said, "The West should avoid making excessive demands from Iran."
In late December, Iran condemned Washington for adding nine individuals and entities to its Iran sanctions blacklist, stressing that the embargoes mean a negative move amid the talks underway between Tehran and the six world powers, including the US.
"We deplore the US administration's imposition of new embargoes on a number of other companies and people under the pretext of their partnership in purchasing the sanctioned goods and equipment, and we believe they violate the US undertakings under the Joint Plan of Action (Geneva agreement inked in November 2013 between Tehran and the Group 5+1)," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said in her weekly press conference in Tehran.
"Under such circumstances that the negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 to reach a comprehensive agreement are underway, this measure is a blatant violation of the good will principle and places a question mark on the goals pursued by the US administration through the negotiations," she added.
Afkham, meantime, downplayed the effects of such acts on Iran's interactions with the world states to supply its industrial and trade needs.
Also asked by reporters on the US Congress new bill to impose more sanctions against Iran, she said the US administration will be responsible for the implementation of any possible agreement between Tehran and the world powers.
The new sanctions were imposed against Tehran while the Iranian officials have always underlined the country's determination to settle the nuclear dispute with the West and the necessity for the full removal of all sanctions if there is to be a deal with the world powers.
In a relevant development in December, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent separate letters to his counterparts in all the world states to reiterate that any nuclear deal with the world powers should include annulment of all sanctions against Tehran.
"… lifting of all sanctions, is an essential component of any agreement. But some members of P5+1 (G5+1) have become increasingly reluctant to abandon this counterproductive, illegal and inhuman instrument of coercion even at the expense of putting in jeopardy the entire process that provides certainty and assures transparency," Zarif said in separate letters to his counterparts in different world states.
He briefed his counterparts on the latest developments in the negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the G5+1 on Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
The Obama administration acknowledges that it must provide some incentive for Iran to sign the agreement in the form of upfront sanctions relief. It has informed Iran that the sanctions negotiated with European and Asian countries, which have cut Iranian oil exports sharply since 2012, would be removed promptly under the comprehensive agreement.