Tehran Condemns US Sanctions Against Head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization

TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2020) Tehran denounces the recent US sanctions against the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, but expects the Iranian nuclear program to be unaffected by them, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Friday.

On Thursday, the United States expanded its sanctions against Iran to include Salehi. This means that all of his assets in the US have been frozen, and any transactions with third parties will be subject to secondary sanctions.

"Mr. Salehi is an outstanding scientist and politician, the sanctions against him are merely [a sign of] despair [of the United States] and will not affect the progress of Iran's peaceful nuclear program," Mousavi said, adding that Tehran condemned the sanctions.

The US' "maximum pressure" policy with respect to Tehran has long come to a standstill, he added.

On January 5, in the aftermath of the Baghdad Airport Airstrike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Tehran announced that it would begin abandoning the remaining portion of commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, specifically those pertaining to acceptable levels of uranium enrichment. At the same time, Iran stated it would continue to cooperate with the IAEA and resume the implementation of nuclear commitments once Washington lifted the economic sanctions.