Democrats on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee have criticised the government’s decision to grant Iran sanctions relief.
In a post on X, they accused the US President of granting Iran sanctions relief before making progress on key issues under negotiation, including Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“While ending this illegal war is better than disastrously doubling down, the admin’s steps are inconsistent with its own rhetoric about how it would approach any deal.
“Trump officials repeatedly said sanctions relief would be tied to Iran addressing its nuclear program and terrorist proxies. Neither has been addressed, but the regime has been gifted sweeping sanctions relief it has dreamed of for decades.”
Democrats on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee
This comes after US Treasury Department waived sanctions on the sale of Iranian crude oil, petrochemicals and petroleum products until August 21. The move allows Iran to sell oil in US dollars for the first time in decades.
Also, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that an agreement has been reached with the US to release $12bn in frozen Iranian assets.
In an interview with state media, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke in detail about Iranian frozen assets and oil exports. He spoke about Article 11 of the MoU which concerns the release of frozen Iranian funds and said there were two separate amounts of $6bn to be released. He said that preliminary arrangements had already been made during a trip to Qatar and that the final signing took place during the Switzerland visit.
As for Article 10, which concerns the sale of crude oil, petrochemicals and derivatives, as well as banking, insurance and transportation, he said that oil sanctions have also been lifted until a final agreement is achieved.
Hemmati told a news agency that Iran has “no obligation to buy” agricultural products from the US, saying that the agreement between the US and Iran on the matter states that the first $6bn can be used to buy “basic goods and medicine.” “If the price and quality of American inputs are more suitable compared to other countries, we have no obstacle to purchasing from that country,” he said.
He added that the remaining $6bn “will not necessarily be spent on basic goods, but Iran can also purchase other non-sanctioned goods.”
Iran Defends Decision To Hold Talks With US
Iran’s Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf defended the decision to hold talks with the US, saying that Iranian delegates went to Switzerland to end the bloodshed in Lebanon.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir issued a joint statement on the situation in Lebanon, saying that the Israeli military will continue to “act with determination in order to neutralize threats against our soldiers and our citizens”, and to demolish infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah. The military will also continue to “maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon.”
The statement came after Netanyahu also issued a video statement insisting that the Israeli military will “have full freedom of action” in Lebanon. “My stance is firm on our remaining in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as is required,” he said.
Meanwhile, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that Sunday marked the first day that UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon “did not detect any trajectories or observe any interceptions” since fighting began between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2.
Dujarric told reporters that the “lack of activities” continued into Monday morning. “We welcome this reduction in hostilities, and we very much hope this trend continues for the sake of people on the ground,” he said.
He noted that still, peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are continuing to “observe extensive [Israeli military] ground activities throughout the mission’s area of operations, including armoured manoeuvres, as well as engineering and logistical activities.” He said that they are also continuing to observe “violations of Lebanese airspace” by Israeli aircraft, though this has been at reduced levels.
According to Dujarric, peacekeepers detected “multiple airstrikes and 451 firing incidents” attributed to the Israeli military on Saturday, as well as “20 trajectories” attributed to Hezbollah.
A new round of US-mediated negotiations between Israel and Lebanon begins today in Washington and is due to last until Thursday.
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