FNA - South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation lauded the ruling by the International Court of Justice which opposed the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran by the US.

"South Africa is concerned about a US decision to unilaterally withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers in Vienna in July 2015 which was a great achievement for multilateral diplomacy," the South African department said.

The department has also warned that scrapping the deal might have unpleasant consequences for the parties to the deal and all countries of the world, calling for preservation of the international agreement.

The UN�s international court of justice reprimanded the US over its re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, and ordered Washington to lift restrictive measures linked to humanitarian trade, food, medicine and civil aviation.

"The court considers that the United States, in accordance with its obligations under the 1955 Treaty of Amity, must remove, by means of its choosing, any impediments arising from the measures relating to humanitarian needs, medicines, foodstuff and agricultural commodities and civil aviation," the ICJ's ruling said.

It added that to this end, the United States must ensure that licenses and necessary authorizations are granted and that payments and other transfers of funds are not subject to any restriction in so far as they relate to the goods and services referred to above.