FM Zarif Slams US Wrong Policy on Iran after Senate Sanctions Bill

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Norway for the Oslo Forum, Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the US Senate move as a testimony of US officials’ shortsightedness.

Such behavior demonstrates the wrong policy that the US government has adopted toward Iran, particularly following the recent presidential election in the Islamic Republic, he added.

On June 7, the US Senate voted to advance a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran. The vote was 92-7 on a procedural motion to end debate on the Iran sanctions bill, clearing the way for a vote later on passage of the legislation.

The US legislation would impose new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program, its alleged human rights violation and claims of support for terrorist organizations. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed it 18-3 last month.

As regards the US obstruction of implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -a nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), Zarif said he is going to caution against the US violation of the nuclear accord and the consequences of its destructive conducts in a meeting with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Oslo on Monday.

The European Union, China and Russia, the main supporters of the JCPOA, have voiced determination to keep working with Iran irrespective of the US lack of commitment, Zarif added, stressing that Americans cannot undermine such relations.

The top Iranian diplomat went on to say that he will hold meetings with many ministers and intellectuals from other countries on the sidelines of the Oslo Forum.

Oslo forum is an annual international conference on armed conflict mediators and peace process actors.

The forum annually brings together senior conflict mediators, major players in peace processes, key decision-makers and eminent thinkers to reflect on current peace processes and to strengthen the practice of conflict mediation internationally.FM Zarif Slams US Wrong Policy on Iran after Senate Sanctions Bill