DUBAI: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday a new U.S. law putting visa restrictions on Iranians and those who had visited Iran would, if implemented, breach a nuclear deal Tehran had struck with world powers earlier this year.
The new measure passed by the U.S. Congress will prevent visa-free travel to the United States for people who have visited Iran or hold Iranian nationality.
The measure, which President Barack Obama signed into law on Friday, also applies to Iraq, Syria and Sudan, and was introduced as a security measure after Islamic State attacks in Paris and an attack in San Bernardino, California.
Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim theocracy staunchly opposed to Sunni radicalism espoused by groups like Islamic State, says its inclusion on the list is intended to undermine the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
"If the Congress law is implemented as it is, it would definitely be a breach (of JCPOA)," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency, speaking at a joint press conference with his Mongolian counterpart, Lundeg Purevsuren.
Zarif said he had raised the issue with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at their meeting in New York this month and also in several emails in the last 10 days, hoping that "these measures stop any obstacle in implementation of the JCPOA."
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