US Visa Restrictions Blatant Violation of JCPOA: Iranian Diplomat
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A new law that tightens visa-free travel to the US for travelers to Iran is a clear breach of a July nuclear deal signed between Tehran and six world powers, an MP quoted Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as saying.
Rapporteur for the parliament's national security and foreign policy commission said on Sunday that Mr. Araqchi has stressed in a session of the commission that measures should be taken to stifle the enforcement of that US law.
The new US visa program will adversely affect implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) since it will hamper visits to Iran by those who can contribute to improvement of relations between Iran and the internal community, the MP quoted Araqchi as saying.
According to the bill, which was passed in the US House by 407 to 19 on December 8, visitors from 38 “visa waiver” countries will need to obtain a visa to travel to the US if they have been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan in the past five years.
On December 18, US lawmakers sent Barack Obama a huge tax and spending package, which also included reforms of the US visa waiver program, and the president quickly signed it into law.
The controversy comes a few weeks before implementation of the JCPOA, the final nuclear deal signed between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in July.
The nuclear deal, known as a big confidence-building step in relations between Iran and the West, is going to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran after coming into force.