Iran says fresh U.S. sanctions to 'complicate nuclear issue'

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

TEHRAN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said Thursday that the new U.S. sanctions will " complicate" the country's nuclear issue, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Commenting on the fresh U.S. sanctions, Araqchi said that " Intensifying sanctions will further complicate nuclear issue and make it even difficult to solve."

On Wednesday, a bill by the U.S. House of Representatives was passed to further tighten sanctions on Iran's oil exports, which have already been reduced due to the sanctions in place, but the new ones will cut them by one million barrels a day.

The legislation, which was passed a few days before Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani takes office, provides heavy penalties for buyers who fail to find alternative supplies, limits Iran's access to funds in overseas accounts and penalizes countries trading with Iran in other sectors.

The United States and the West have slapped different kinds of sanctions to bring Iran to its knees but "the policy has failed," Araqchi was quoted as saying.

The bill has to be passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Barack Obama before becoming a law.

We Recommend

• 9th 'Hong Kong Teenager Military Summer Camp' ended
• A 54-year-old repairman's flying dream
• So cute! Smallest animals on the earth
• Bitter sweet acrobatics childhood
• 2 Chinese workers killed in Seoul bridge collapse
• Fan Bingbing poses for fashion magazine