It means citizens of many European Union countries and the rest of the 38 states participating in the program who travel to Iran either for business or visiting the country’s attractions will have to obtain a visa should they ever want to enter the US.
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Iran, a Shia Muslim theocracy staunchly opposed to Sunni radicalism, says its inclusion on the list is meant to undermine a nuclear deal that Tehran reached with world powers, including the United States, in July, known as the JCPOA.
The Iranian official further expressed regret over the November 13 terrorist attacks in the French capital of Paris, which killed some 130 people, calling for concerted global effort to fight terrorism that has posed a threat to the security in Europe, the US, West Asia and parts of Africa.
“If this law is applied, we will put forward a request to the Joint Commission, because the law goes against the nuclear accord”, Araghchi said.
“There should be no reason why this new legislation interferes with the legitimate business interests of Iran”, State Department spokesman John Kirby added on Monday.
The Obama administration seems less concerned about Iran testing medium-range missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon than about a measure that may affect normalization of trade and economic relations with the Persian Gulf country.
He also reminded Zarif that the White House has the authority to waive provisions of the new visa law. Some suggest the measure is effectively a new sanction against the Islamic Republic that could jeopardise the nuclear deal.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on Monday said that the passage of the waiver law “increased misunderstanding and mistrust” and could damage the fulfillment of the Iran nuclear deal, according to Fars.
“It could have irreversible effects on the implementation of mutual commitments under the JCPOA”, Shamkhani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. “There has been a suggestion because there is an element of the agreement that obligates us to not to take steps that would stop economic relations between other nations and Iran that we could perhaps be in jeopardy of breaching the agreement”.
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“According to the Obama administration’s latest interpretation, the nuclear deal allows Iran to test ballistic missiles in violation of worldwide law, but does not allow Congress to prevent terrorists from coming into the United States”, Omri Ceren, the managing director of press and strategy at The Israel Project, a D.C.-based organization that works with journalists on Middle East issues, told the Washington Free Beacon.
