Iran parliament adopts motion to reciprocate US sanctions

Tehran, July 30 (IANS) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Majlis (parliament) on Saturday passed the general outlines of a motion to reciprocate the US sanctions on the country.

The motion, if ratified in the Majlis open meeting, will "counter the terrorist and adventurous measures of the US in the region," Xinhua quoted Press TV as saying.

It also envisages measures to support the Iranian armed and security forces as well as those Iranians who would be affected by the US actions, Iranian Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araqchi, who had attended the meeting of the commission, was quoted as saying.

Araqchi described the motion as an appropriate measure in response to the "hostile and malicious" policies of the US.

The US sanction measures would have adverse effects on the implementation of the landmark nuclear agreement, also known as JCPOA, which was signed between Iran and six world powers in July 2015, he said.

The US imposed on Friday new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran in response to what it called Tehran's "continued provocative actions", including a recent rocket launch, said US Treasury Department.

Iran launched on Thursday a space vehicle which used technologies "closely related to those of an intercontinental ballistic missile," representing a "threatening step by Iran," said the US statement.