'Ready to thwart US anti-Iran measures'

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has said Iran is quite ready to thwart the US anti-Iran measures following Washington's pullout of the nuclear deal.

Larijani was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as blasting the US "wrong behaviour" of pulling out the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, Xinhua reported.

The speaker also denounced the 12 conditions put forward by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 21 for Iran to avoid the toughest sanctions from Washington.

Seven items out of the 12 conditions are related to the regional issues, which shows that the US problem with Iran is not related to the nuclear issue, Larijani noted.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal despite international opposition and warning about reigniting tensions in the Middle East. Other five major powers that signed the deal, including Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, have vowed to stay in the deal.

On May 21, Pompeo announced 12 tough demands for Iran to change its behavior, including ending ballistic missile program, stopping support to militant groups in the Middle East, closing its heavy water reactor, allowing full access of international inspectors to all nuclear sites, and releasing all prisoners of the US and its allies.

Pompeo threatened to impose the "strongest sanctions in history" on Iran if Tehran fails to accept the demands. However, Iranian leaders have already rejected Pompeo's speech, while vowing to continue its own path.

On Friday, Iranian lawmakers submitted a double-urgence bill to the presiding board of the parliament on the government's nuclear talks with the European Union.

The bill is complementary to a previous one on reciprocal measures against the US anti-Iran moves proposed earlier in May.

Under the bill, the Iranian government is required to ask for "reliable guarantees" from the EU and the five signatories of the nuclear deal except the US

Mojtaba Zonnouri, chairman of Parliament Nuclear Committee, said the European guarantees should be full and comprehensive, and the talks with European countries should not last for more than a month.

If the EU fails to provide Iran with guarantees or violates them after offering, then Iran will start the full fuel cycle of uranium enrichment, Zonnouri said.

--IANS

pgh/