Alexander Van der Bellen labels U.S. sanctions against Iran as provocation

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen dubs as a provocation a new round of U.S. anti-Iranian sanctions after Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), along with Washington’s threat to levy fines on European companies for their cooperation with Tehran.

"The IAEA has carried out at least 13 inspections in Iran and each time it confirmed that Iran is in compliance with its obligations under the Iran nuclear deal. Nevertheless, the United States has pulled out citing reasons which appear significant to them," he said at a news conference after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"From the European point of view, the fact that, after pulling out of the JCPOA, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran might be considered as particularly provocative,"  TASS cited him a saying.

"Generally, it is a US decision, but at the same time they said that all the European firms that continue their trade with Iran might be punished … with ‘the seizure of assets in the US’," Van der Bellen noted.