Iran calls for int'l meeting to consider US sanctions extension

 Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday called for a joint meeting of Iran and the six world powers to discuss the recent U.S. extension of Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which Iran says is a violation of the nuclear agreement , Press TV reported.

Iran and six world major countries, namely the United States, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 which puts Iran on the path of sanctions relief but more strict limits on its nuclear program.

The Islamic republic has remained committed to all of its obligations under the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Zarif said in an official letter to the European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, on Saturday.

"Maintaining the JCPOA integrity and coherence as well as its sustainability requires that all parties to the JCPOA pay attention to (their commitments to) implement its provisions," Zarif said, adding that however, the United States kept reneging on its obligations under the nuclear agreement.

Zarif asked the EU foreign policy chief to make necessary preparations for the JCPOA joint commission meeting to consider the extension of ISA which, Iran calls, a violation of nuclear agreement.

The earlier vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the ISA was endorsed by the Senate last week.

The White House said in a statement on Thursday that the bill renewing the ISA was becoming law without U.S. President Barack Obama's signature.

The White House said that an extension of the bill "is entirely consistent with" the U.S. commitments in the Iran nuclear deal reached in July 2015.

The ISA was first adopted in 1996 to sanction Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

source: Xinhua