Iranian foreign minister says US visa law ‘breaches nuclear deal’

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday that a new US bill tightening visa-free travel from Iran to the US would be tantamount to a breach of the nuclear deal reached in July between Tehran and six world powers if it turns into law.

According to the bill passed by Congress earlier this month and incorporated into a massive spending bill signed by President Barack Obama, people who have visited Iran or hold Iranian nationality will not be able to travel visa-free to the US.

Tehran has vociferously criticized the new measure, and have threatened it could have wide-reaching implications for July’s hard-won nuclear deal, which will see Iran curb nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief.

“If the law is fully implemented, it will explicitly violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” Zarif said in public remarks Wednesday.

The comment came after a letter from Kerry to Zarif aimed to calm fears, assuring him that the US administration could skirt the provision if need be.

Zarif added that if the administration “utilizes its power” and announces “as did Secretary of State John Kerry” that the new law will not prevent implementation of the nuclear deal, Tehran will consider the issue and decide whether the law breaches the agreement or not.

Iran sees the administration as “the representative of the entire US” and “does not care about Congress and its laws.”

According to the bill, passed in the US House by 407 to 19 on December 8, visitors from 38 “visa waiver” countries will need to obtain a visa to travel to the US if they have been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan during the past five years.

The president of the French Senate Gerard Larcher, who was on a visit to Iran this week, sided with Zarif on the issue.

Speaking during a trip aimed at strengthening relations with France following the nuclear deal, Larcher said the new American law “can be seen in Tehran as a sign of mistrust” and does not contribute to building confidence with Iran, he said Monday.

“I think it sends the wrong signal… from a democratic country, the great American democracy,” Larcher said.

On Monday, Iran claimed that Israel was to blame the law.

According to Reuters, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a spokesman for the foreign ministry in Tehran, said that the American decision was enacted “under pressure from the Zionist lobby” and other “currents” opposed to the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

AFP contributed to this report.