After Warning US With “Retaliation” Iran Plans Russian Fighter Jet Purchase, Naval Bases In Syria, Yemen

As tensions once again grow between Iran and the US, with both countries unsure if Donald Trump will extend Barack Obama’s landmark “nuclear deal” which in January 2016 lifted Iran’s sanctions (imposed previously by the same Obama regime) and allowed Iran to export three times as much crude oil as the country did one year ago, Iran has fallen back to the same diplomacy that marked the darker periods of diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.
As a result, earlier this week Iran explicitly warned the Trump administration, that extending U. S. sanctions on Iran for 10 years would breach the Iranian nuclear agreement, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warning that Tehran would retaliate if the sanctions are approved. The U. S. House of Representatives re-authorized last week the Iran Sanctions Act, or ISA, for 10 years. The law was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran’s energy industry and deter Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Iran measure will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed. The House bill must still be passed by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama to become law.
Iran and world powers concluded the nuclear agreement, also known as JCPOA, last year. It imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for easing sanctions that have badly hurt its economy. “The current U. S. government has breached the nuclear deal in many occasions,” Khamenei said, addressing a gathering of members of the Revolutionary Guards, according to his website. “The latest is extension of sanctions for 10 years, that if it happens, would surely be against JCPOA, and the Islamic Republic would definitely react to it.”
As a reminder courtesy of Reuters, the U. S. lawmakers passed the bill one week after Republican Donald Trump was elected U. S. president. Republicans in Congress unanimously opposed the agreement, along with about two dozen Democrats, and Trump has also criticized it.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 26, 2016.