Iranian parliament mulls response to US sanctions
Iran’s parliament will discuss its response to US sanctions legislation today.
On June 15 the US Senate approved a bill targeting Iran’s missile program, empowering the White House to sanction any individual involved. The chair of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said the bill was a “blatant violation” of the Iran nuclear deal, as these missiles are not nuclear.
Tehran plans to hit back with legislation to boost missile program funding by $600 million and authorising the Quds Forces, an elite unit within the Revolutionary Guard, to “fight US terrorist acts.” President Hassan Rouhani would have to provide a strategy for countering US threats every six months.
The Iranian parliament should have time to fully weigh its response; the US bill has been stalled in the House by Donald Trump’s efforts to water down accompanying sanctions on Russia. This prolonged legislating will only further poison the well between Washington and Tehran, but there is little sign of either retreating from the 2015 nuclear deal.
Delve deeper: The Iranian nuclear deal and people-to-people diplomacy
