TEHRAN
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday voiced Tehran's resolution to continue with the nuclear negotiations with six major world powers, namely the P5+1.
Posting a statement on his official Facebook account, Iran's foreign policy chief criticized the new sanctions announced on Thursday by the US Departments of Treasury and State blacklisting a number of companies and individuals for “providing support for” Iran’s nuclear energy program.
“Over the past days, certain improper measures were taken by the Americans, to which we responded in the required manner and with the consideration of all aspects of the issue," wrote Zarif.
Iranian top diplomat also cautioned that Tehran would respond prudently to any unconstructive and inappropriate action on the part of the sextet, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - plus Germany.
“We will seriously pursue the Geneva talks, and we will of course give a proper, calculated, purposeful and smart response to any improper and unconstructive action (even if it does not violate the Geneva deal),” he said.
The fresh US sanctions came shortly after a historic initial nuclear deal signed between Iran and the sextet in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24, which aimed to provide a full resolution for the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy and enrichment program.
“Negotiations and achieving results are difficult and will certainly involve many ups and downs. We had foreseen this from the outset, too,” Zarif said regarding the roadmap to achieve a final nuclear agreement with P5+1.
In line with the Geneva deal, Iran and the P5+1 agreed that no more nuclear-related sanctions would be imposed on Iran for a six-month period.
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