The US sanctions were expected to be formally announced this week.
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Last week, the Iranians accused the US of violating the nuclear deal after Congress passed legislation requiring all foreign nationals who visit Iran and Syria to obtain a visa to travel to the U.S, a revision to the visa waiver program made in the wake of the San Bernardino, California, shooting earlier this month.
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The Football Association said the context of the comments ensured there was no cause for disciplinary action. Sunderland’s Sam Allardyce brands Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp a “soft German” in discussing a red card appeal.
A series of Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal.
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He asked Jaitley to cooperate with the Commission of Enquiry set up by his government and prove his innocence. He said he had urged Modi to let the AAP government work without interference but “he did not agree”.
“We lack enough space in our stockpiles to house our missiles”, said General Hossein Salami, the Guards’ deputy, as a row with the U.S. over Iran’s ballistic missile programme deepened.
Iranian officials have lined up to underline the country’s push to buttress missile capabilities after reports that the U.S. administration planned new sanctions on the Islamic Republic in spite of a nuclear accord.
The alleged incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on December 26 drew denials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who are responsible for protecting Iranian interests in the strategic waterway where much of the world’s oil passes.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that the U.S. was preparing fresh sanctions against companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates over alleged links to Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
Though the rockets were not fired toward any warship, their proximity to them and several commercial vessels, reportedly around 1,500 yards (metres), was “highly provocative”, said a U.S. official.
“The uranium was not bomb grade, but the US anxious Iran could have used it to make a bomb in a matter of months if it had chosen to”, NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel reports.
A French frigate and the USS Bulkeley destroyer were also in the area at the time.
Such a step by the Treasury Department could present a major barrier to the nuclear deal’s implementation, let alone its durability, and come with relations between Tehran and Washington deteriorating once more. The sanctions “remain on the table”, according to officials, but the paper said it is now not clear when or if they will move forward.
Iran also recently aired television footage of an underground missile base.
The Defence Ministry was obliged to expand the missile capabilities of Iran, in case the United States insists on its “false and interfering measures”, Rouhani said.
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Rouhani said in a recent letter to his defense minister, according to Reuters.
