Update: Iran denounces extension of U.S. sanctions

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that the recent U.S. vote for the extension of Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) is a clear violation of an international deal on Iran's nuclear issue, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Rouhani called the vote "a blatant infringement" of the nuclear deal, saying that the U.S. president should not endorse it and "should use his authority to block it from being enforced."

He said Iran will not tolerate the infringement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal, by any party involved in the contract, and will respond decisively.

Senior Iranian officials have been voicing their criticism and concerns about the violation of the nuclear deal following the U.S. vote to extend the ISA for another 10 years.

The vote by the U.S. House of Representatives is endorsed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday, still has to be signed by the U.S. president to become a law.

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

Rouhani stressed Sunday Iran's commitments to the JCPOA, which put an end to Iran's disputable nuclear issue last year, calling it "an international document."

On Sunday, Iranian lawmakers also urged the government to take appropriate measures to retaliate anti-Iran legislation by the U.S. senate, Tehran Times daily reported

"In a showy move, the U.S. legislators renewed the unfair law of the ISA against the great Iranian nation," 264 lawmakers said in a statement at the Sunday meeting session of the Majlis (parliament).

They described the new U.S. move concerning Iran sanctions as a blow to the JCPOA.

It would be an irresponsible action by the United States for failing to abide by its international commitments, the statement read.

Iran and six world major countries, namely 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 Iran.

Some members of the U.S. Congress, however, 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