Sanctions against Iran are not working, US commander says

A top US commander says the US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran are not working.

General James Mattis, the commander of the US Central Command, made the remarks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Mattis also told Republican Senator Lindsey Graham that Tehran’s “nuclear industry continues.”

Earlier in the day, the world powers of the P5+1 group — the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain plus Germany — underscored their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue, saying, “We reaffirm our continuing support for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.”

They added that they “take note of the useful meetings [held on February 27-28 in Almaty, Kazakhstan] to carry on a constructive diplomatic process, which will be pursued actively in the months ahead on the basis of reciprocity and step-by-step approach.”

The P5+1 also noted that the objective behind next meetings will be to restore “international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Following the Almaty talks, Iran and the P5+1 group agreed to meet again in the city on April 5-6 to continue the negotiations after holding “expert-level” talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 17-18.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.