Obama Obliged to Block Anti-Iran Sanctions

The US administration is bound by the landmark nuclear deal to block attempts by Congress to impose fresh nuclear sanctions against Iran, a nuclear negotiator said.

Two years of negotiations between Iran and major powers culminated in the nuclear accord in July last year. It went into force six months later to remove sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for scaling down its nuclear program.

US Republican lawmakers, who unanimously oppose the agreement, formally titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, have made repeated attempts to prevent its full implementation.

Responding to a question in an interview with ICANA on Saturday about whether the anti-Iran congressional measures constitute a breach of the action plan, Abbas Araqchi added that they are not considered a violation because they are not enforceable yet.

"Based on the JCPOA, the US administration is bound to prevent the imposition of any new nuclear sanctions or the reinstatement of previous ones against Iran under new pretexts," he said.

Araqchi, who also serves as the deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said US President Barack Obama would have to veto any such legislation passed by Congress.

"None of the measures by hawkish congressmen has made it past both the House of Representatives and the Senate yet to make Obama use his veto power," he said.

Some senior Republican lawmakers have been campaigning against the sale of Boeing and Airbus jetliners to Iran.

Both aviation giants said last month they had received the US Treasury's approval to begin exporting over 200 jets to Iran, under the deals struck early this year.

Explaining the reason for the delay in the implementation of the deals, which should have started by now, Araqchi said, "It is because the negotiations between Iran Air and Airbus and Boeing are still underway and are not over yet.

"The delivery of the aircraft to Iran is pending the result of the negotiations ... They involve detailed and complicated discussions on technical and legal aspects."