NPT withdrawal is for security council to decide, parliamentarian says

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi should apologize to the people over the snapback mechanism, just as former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif should, parliament’s internal affairs committee member Kamran Ghazanfari said on Sunday.

“Araghchi has shared in the betrayal of the nuclear deal, whose product is the snapback, and he must apologize to the Iranian nation,” Ghazanfari said.

Araghchi’s recent comments on IAEA inspectors in Iran contradicted his earlier denials, he added.

“These contradictory remarks cause us to doubt his honesty.”

Lawmakers, Ghazanfari said, may move to question the foreign minister and consider withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a response to snapback.

Iranian users’ Tether holdings could be blocked amid tighter global sanctions enforcement and cryptocurrency oversight, an outlet tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported on Sunday.

“Thousands of addresses on the Tether network have so far been frozen and their assets effectively made inaccessible,” Tasnim News said.

On Saturday, the agency also urged regulators to act firmly against domestic exchanges, including Nobitex, for publishing real Tether-dollar rates.

The Central Bank of Iran announced a new regulation on Saturday restricting the purchase and holding of stablecoins such as Tether.

Parliament reviewed the possibility of leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in response to the snapback of UN sanctions, lawmaker Hashem Khanfari said on Sunday.

“No very serious decision was made, and the subjects were only at the level of review and expression of representatives’ views,” Khanfari said.

Earlier, deputy speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei said Iran would continue enrichment and withdraw from the treaty.

Important decisions were made in a closed parliamentary session on the snapback mechanism, Iran’s parliament speaker said on Sunday.

“Important decisions were taken in this closed session,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said.

“In the closed session, major issues concerning people’s livelihoods, ration cards, economic matters and serious challenges were discussed at length,” he added.

Iran’s army is watching adversaries closely and will respond firmly to any hostile act, the army chief said on Sunday as UN sanctions were reimposed under the snapback mechanism.

“We are constantly monitoring the enemy and will respond strongly to any wrong or false move,” Amir Hatami said.

“The army, with eyes always awake, will carry out its mission,” he added.