[caption id="attachment_141124" align="alignright" width="173"] U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question after his end of the year press conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, December 19, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING[/caption]

Obama extended existing sanctions on Iran for one more year on Wednesday.


WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama on Wednesday extended existing sanctions on Iran for one more year despite certain progress in Tehran's actions to curb its controversial nuclear program.

"…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," Obama said in a notice to the Congress published by the Office of the Press Secretary.

"Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Iran declared in Executive Order 12957," Obama wrote.

The US President also stressed the importance of the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program between Tehran and the P5+1 group of international mediators comprising the United States, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and France.

Obama referred to the Joint Plan of Action between the P5+1 and Iran that went into effect on January 20, 2014 as “the first time in a decade that Iran has agreed to and taken specific actions that stop the advance and roll back key elements of its nuclear program.”Suspecting that Iran was developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program, the United States declared a national emergency with respect to Tehran on March 15, 1995 and renewed it every year since.

In November 2013, Tehran and P5+1 agreed to reach a long-term comprehensive deal with Tehran guaranteeing the peaceful character of its nuclear activities in exchange for lifting of sanctions imposed against Iran. The deal must be agreed upon before July, 2015.

On Sunday Obama said in an interview with CBS News television that Tehran has not advanced its nuclear program in over a year since the beginning of international negotiations.


By Sputnik News