TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the U.S. Senate’s move to impose new sanctions on Iran will scupper a successful implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We believe that approval of such a bill is contradictory to the principle of goodwill and successful implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” noted Araqchi who served as a leading negotiator in drafting the nuclear deal with great powers and the European Union.

On June 7, Senate voted to proceed with a bill that would sanction Iran over its ballistic missile activity, its alleged human rights violation and claims of support for terrorist organizations. It came just hours after the Iranian capital suffered a deadly terrorist attack.

Araqchi said the Senate action is “shameful” and shows “confusion” on the part of the U.S. toward the Middle East. He added the U.S. Senate’s allegation of Iran’s support for terrorism is “farcical” and “shameful”. 

In a series of Twitter messages in late May, former Secretary of State John Kerry urged the U.S. senators not to move ahead with legislation saying “this is not the moment for a new Iran bill”.

“This is a time to tread carefully,” Kerry advised the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We need to consider the implications of confrontation without conversation,” tweeted Kerry who was President Barack Obama’s chief nuclear negotiator with Iran.

NA/PA