Russia says renewal of ISA harmful

EghtesadOnline: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov expressed regret over America’s renewal of Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) and said Russia assessed the decision as wrong and harmful.

News ID: ۷۳۸۶۴۱

16 December 2016

According to IRNA correspondent, he told reporters that Russia believed the political situation was not apt for the US to take such a move.

He said the US decision was not a correct one especially given the fact that the first anniversary of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) which was close.

He said Moscow was sad that the majority of representatives in the two American legislative bodies voted positive to the ISA and believed the votes revealed the general atmosphere prevailing across the US.

Ryabkov said the situation dominating the US legislative bodies is not becoming the people who hold government status.

He said Russia hoped wiser people would assume positions in the next US Congress.

The senior Russian nuclear negotiator went on to urge all parties to fully abide by the agreement.

He described the JCPOA as a very valuable, useful and necessary document which has a long-term impact on reinforcement of international security structure.

He said Russia would have taken different positions in the stages of drafting and ratifying the document had the deal been structured in a different way but now Moscow is not going to revise its decisions.

He said that Moscow’s views towards the deal have been repeatedly affirmed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

He said it would be to everybody’s interest to safeguard the JCPOA and fully implement it in every detail.

Ryabkov said Russia is not willing to see anybody get the temptation to use the JCPOA as a tool for political games to get to certain objectives because then both the international and regional security situations especially in the Middle East will suffer a serious blow.

Both the US House of Representatives and the Senate have voted for the 10-year extension ISA dating back to 1996 in the name of proponent of the bill, the US Senator D'Amato, to penalize the US companies making investments over 20 million dollar worth in the Iranian energy industry.

Renewal of the US sanctions against Iran became law without the US President Barack Obama's signature on Thursday.

Although the White House had said that Obama was expected to sign the 10-year extension of Iran Sanctions Act, the midnight deadline came and went Thursday with no signature from the president, the US news agency 'Associated Press' reported.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama had decided to let it become law without his signature, AP wrote.

The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has already reiterated that the JCPOA was a multiparty agreement and not a bilateral one so every party of the deal has to remain committed to it.