Iran: Fresh US sanctions disappointing

An Iranian lawmaker described as " disappointing" the new anti-Iran bill of sanctions by the U.S. congressmen, Press TV reported Sunday. "The United States does not stop its double-standard policy and they try to pursue their national interests by adopting a carrot- and-stick approach," spokesman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Majlis (parliament), Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, was quoted as saying on Saturday. Last week, 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. The new ones will cut them by an additional 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. In word, the U.S. government seeks negotiations with Iran on bilateral relations and over Iran's nuclear program, but tries to mount pressure on the Islamic republic in practice, said Naqavi- Hosseini. Washington does not even take the opportunity created by an administration change in Iran to improve its relations with Tehran, said the lawmaker. On Saturday, Rouhani said he will engage in "constructive" cooperation with the international community and will seek to solve the issue of sanctions against his country. The United States and the West have slapped different kinds of sanctions to bring Iran to its knees but "the policy has failed," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said earlier.