News / Foreign Policy

Clinton’s call for more sanctions on Iran ‘totally irresponsible’

Sunday, 17 January 2016 1:57 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 17 January 2016 2:00 PM ]

Former US Secretary of State and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton speaks at an event on January 16, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. (AFP photo)

An American journalist and former prisoner in Iran has denounced US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s call for more sanctions on the Islamic Republic as “totally irresponsible.”

On Saturday, Clinton called for new sanctions on the Iranian nation for its ballistic missile program. She made the remarks in a statement issued shortly after President Barack Obama signed an executive order lifting US economic sanctions on Iran.

Obama’s move came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has implemented its commitments made in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and announced to remove international economic sanctions against the country.

Shane Bauer, who along with two other persons was held in Iran for illegally entering Iranian territory from Iraq in July 2009, accused Clinton of constantly inflaming tensions with Iran. Bauer was released in September 2011.

“Seriously, why would Hillary call for more sanctions *now*? As far as we know, 4 of the Americans are still in Iran. Totally irresponsible,” Bauer tweeted on Saturday night.

On Saturday, Iran released four Iranian-American prisoners as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. They were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor, Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine, and another inmate named Nosratollah Khosravi. On Sunday, all four people reportedly left Iran.

Iran and the P5+1 - the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - finalized the text of the JCPOA in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2015.

Under the agreement, limits are 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.

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