Roundup: Iran's top leader vows to retaliate if U.S. renews sanctions

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that if the United States renews the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), the Islamic republic will "definitely" react.

"So far, the incumbent U.S. government has committed several violations with regard to the nuclear agreement," Khamenei said, adding that "the most recent violation is the 10-year extension of the sanctions" by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"If these sanctions are executed, this will surely constitute a violation of the JCPOA (Iran's nuclear deal) and they (the U.S. officials) should know that the Islamic republic will definitely react to it," he was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the extension of the ISA for another 10 years. To become a law, the bill has still to be endorsed by the Senate and to be signed by the U.S. president.

The ISA was first adopted in 1996 to sanction Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

Khamenei's remarks came one day after Iranian lawmakers in a statement deplored the vote, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Iranian lawmakers are "fully monitoring the behavior of the U.S. senators and the Congress, and urge the government to take reciprocal and serious measures on (the violation of) the nuclear deal," read the statement.

"The parliament is fully ready to defend the Islamic revolution's achievements in the civilian nuclear industry in Iran and national honor," the statement was cited as reading.

On Tuesday, Iranian Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani also warned Washington of Tehran's retaliatory measures against any violation of last year's nuclear deal with the world powers.

In the meantime, Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tuesday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to undertake Washington's obligations pertaining to last year's nuclear deal, Fars reported.

"I imagine when the U.S. president practically takes the country's leadership, he will take actions on the basis of the realities as the nuclear deal is not an issue between the two countries to allow the other side to defy its undertakings, and we believe that there will be no problem," Salehi of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) was quoted as saying.

"It is an international issue and we think that we will not face so many problems," Salehi said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran acts upon its commitments under the nuclear deal and we expect the other side to act upon its undertakings as well," he added.

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said the incoming administration of the U.S. president-elect is unlikely to break the Iranian nuclear deal harm the interests of the United States.

"It is still soon to judge what is going to come about," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said, adding that he believes there is enough rationality within the U.S. society to prevent potential acts from endangering U.S. and international interests.

He also said Iran would prepare contingency plans for any possible scenario.

However, the White House said on Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama would not sign any bill in his final months in office that would undermine the Iran nuclear deal.

"We certainly are not going to, however, sign a piece of legislation that would undermine the ability of the international community to continue to successfully implement the international agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a daily briefing.

Iran and six world major countries -- the U.S., Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany -- reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that puts Iran on the path of sanctions relief but more strict limits on its nuclear program.

The deal sets limits on Iran's nuclear activities as it will take Tehran at least one year to produce enough fissile materials for producing a nuclear weapon, and allows regular inspections of the facilities inside Iran.

In return, the U.S. and the European Union will suspend nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran, with the lifting of all past UN Security Council sanction resolutions.

Many members of the U.S. Congress had expressed deep concern over the deal, warning that Tehran could evade inspections and use the money from sanction relief to destabilize the region. Endit