Iran MPs mull countermeasures against US sanctions bill: Lawmaker

Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy will discuss a plan to take reciprocal measures against the US Senate's decision to impose new sanctions on Tehran, an Iranian lawmaker says.

The committee would debate the draft of the motion during an open session on July 2 after the parliament's two-week recess, Kamal Dehqani Firouzabadi, the committee’s deputy chairman, told IRNA on Saturday.

The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill imposing sanctions on Iran over its missile program among other things.

The legislation still must pass the Republican-led House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law.

After the US Senate’s approval of the new sanction, Firouzabadi said, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani tasked the committee with drawing up the plan to counter such measures, noting that its draft is now prepared.

According to the draft, the parliament would put measures on its agenda to counter the US violation of the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the legislator said.

Under the JCPOA signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

Washington has so far imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran under the new US administration over the country’s missile program.

Iran to give fitting response to US Senate bill: MP

The chairman of the committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, also said on Saturday that the recent US Senate’s move was a “blatant violation” of the JCPOA, vowing an appropriate response by the Islamic Republic to it.

The Iranian committee tasked with monitoring the JCPOA implementation would adopt “necessary” decisions about the recent Senate’s sanctions, he told Tasnim news agency.

“The approval of the recent US Senate’s sanctions against Iran is undoubtedly in violation of the JCPOA and at odds with its spirit and text,” he said.

“Given that this international document has been signed by all permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union, these countries must also protest at the US move and its lack of commitment [to its obligations under the JCPOA],” Boroujerdi added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Friday defended the country’s “completely legitimate” missile defense program, emphasizing that nothing can prevent the Islamic Republic from exercising its right to defense.

He said, “No measure will be able to deny the Islamic Republic of Iran from its legitimate defense right.”

Read more:

• ‘Nothing can deny Iran right to defense’

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