Top Iran military official:

Senate sanctions bill shows unchanged US evil nature

Rasa - A senior Iranian military official has slammed the US Senate's decision to impose new sanctions on Tehran, saying the move indicates that there has been no change in the malignant nature of Washington.

News ID: 430560

Date: 24 June 2017 - 21:55

RNA - “These sanctions are not something new for [Iran’s] Armed Forces and we have been under sanctions for the past 38 years and nothing new has happened,” Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Saturday.

However, these bans indicate that the enemy is repeating its evil acts against Iran, he added, saying, “If some individuals are fantasizing about a change in the enemy’s [nature], it is not true.”

The US Senate on June 15 overwhelmingly passed a bill imposing sanctions on Iran over its missile program among other things. The legislation still must pass the Republican-led House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law.

However, House members found that the legislation violated a constitutional requirement that any bill that raises revenue for the government must originate in the House, something known as a "blue slip" violation.

The senior Iranian commander further said the US sanctions also violate a landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.

“The new US Senate’s sanctions against Iran violate the spirit and text of the JCPOA,” Baqeri said.

Under the JCPOA signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

Washington has so far imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran under the new US administration over the country’s missile program.

Baqeri said the enemy would continue with its hostility towards Iran and urged the Iranian Armed Forces to “take lessons from this issue” and improve their self-reliance.

He noted that such reliance would boost the Armed Forces’ preparedness and capabilities, adding, “We will have no concern about sanctions” in such a case.

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