Iran to take action if finds US visa legislation in breach of JCPOA: Araqchi

A senior Iranian official says Tehran will take action if it finds that the recent bill by the US House of Representatives on tightening visa-free travel to the United States runs counter to the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group.

The US House overwhelmingly voted on December 8 in favor of tougher travel restrictions for foreign citizens allowed to enter the United States without a visa. The measure would require visitors from the 38 “visa waiver” countries to obtain a visa to travel to the US if they have been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan in the past five years.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the bill has “different legal aspects” and that Iran is holding consultations with the P5+1 group and the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini on the issue.

“The recent bill has different legal aspects. We are reviewing it. We will take action if it proves to be against the JCPOA,” Araqchi said, in reference to the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran and the P5+1 – the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany –clinched in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

Araqchi, who is the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s committee for following up on the implementation of the JCPOA, however, said that the legislation has yet to be finalized.

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