WASHINGTON, March 12. /TASS/. The United States has extended political and economic sanctions against Iran for another year, the White House press service said on Wednesday.
In his notice to the Congress US President Barack Obama said "certain actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."
The national emergency with respect to Iran was declared 20 years ago, in March 1995 by former US President Bill Clinton. It envisaged the introduction of sanctions against Tehran that were regularly renewed.
The United Nations Security Council later passed a number of resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran saying that Tehran failed to fulfill its commitments in the sphere of nuclear non-proliferation.
The issue of their lifting step-by-step is being currently discussed at the negotiations between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus Germany (P5+1) and Iran.
The talks are expected to reach a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. Obama’s notice says that as a result of these negotiations Iran has for the first time in a decade "agreed to and taken specific actions that stop the advance and roll back key elements of its nuclear program."
At a meeting in Vienna in November 2014, the P5+1 and Tehran agreed to extend the deadline for an agreement in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program to June 30, 2015. The agreement stipulated that by the end of March the sides planned to achieve a principled political decision regarding disputed issues.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Tehran's eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.
