The termination of the anti-Iran sanctions with the recent implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers allows Iranian oil producers to re-enter the market.
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If one of the Iranian-backed militias that operate in Iraq was responsible for a kidnapping this would feed the anger of U.S. critics who see both deals as a capitulation. Washington, he said, suffers from an “addiction to pressure, addiction to coercion, addiction to sanctions”.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented, but I can tell you this”, Kerry said.
Kerry had earlier said the USA stands by separate new ballistic missile-related sanctions on Tehran, a move Iran described as “bizarre”.
“Duh, I mean really”, said Sen.
“If we catch them (Iran) funding terrorism, they’re going to have a problem with the United States Congress and with other people, obviously”, Kerry later told reporters.
There is no military solution to the ongoing civil war in Syria, the sides to the conflict should seek political settlement, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Wednesday.
Republicans and Democrats called for the Obama administration to take punitive action against Iran over the tests, though – in the midst of a diplomatic flare-up between Iran and Saudi Arabia – the action was not immediate. (Iran) was supporting terrorism when their economy was crippled.
In his first public remarks since global sanctions were lifted following a United Nations report that Iran had fully complied in scaling back its nuclear program, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran should “exercise care the other party implements its commitments”. The end of sanctions frees about $100 billion, but he said Iran will get about $55 billion – not enough to upset the region’s military balance.
The United States insists Iran’s ballistic missile tests violated U.N. sanctions sanctions that will remain in effect for at least eight more years under the terms of the nuclear accord.
His comments came in response to a complaint lodged a day earlier by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who told The Associated Press in an interview that new USA sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile testing are “illegal” and an example of an American “addiction to coercion”.
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“We think they have been used judiciously and effectively and we are looking to move on now to put to test the willingness of Iran and other countries in the region to try to reduce tensions and move in a different direction”.
