Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran would consider the extension of sanctions to be a violation of the nuclear agreement the Islamic Republic signed with the US and other world powers. It threatened to retaliate if the sanctions are approved.
The US House of Representatives voted to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) by ten years last week. The ISA was adopted in 1996 to punish companies which invested in Iran's energy industry and to deter Iran from its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The bill to extend the ISA must still be approved by the Senate and signed by president Obama before it becomes law.
"The current US government has breached the nuclear deal on many occasions," Khamenei said at a gathering of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. "The latest is the extension of sanctions for 10 years, that if it happens, would surely be against JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action- the Nuclear Deal signed between Iran and the international community) and the Islamic Republic would definitely react to it."