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US seeking pretext to impose sanctions on Iran: Pundit

Wednesday, 25 January 2017 4:35 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 25 January 2017 4:51 PM ]

US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Less than a week after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump has revealed plans to block visas for Iranian citizens as part of efforts to pile up pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Trump is expected to unveil the executive actions on Wednesday, beginning with steps to temporary ban most refugees entering the US and deny visas to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

During his electoral campaign, the real estate tycoon pledged to pile up pressure on Iran over its nuclear energy program, calling the milestone nuclear deal between Tehran and the six world powers “a disaster.”

“Trump has been very hostile to Iran...,” Stephen Lendman, author and journalist from Chicago told Press TV's Top 5 on Wednesday.

The "hostility" has been rampant under the previous US presidents and the antagonistic trend will “continue under Trump very disturbingly,” he noted.

Pointing to the root cause of United States’ hostile policies toward Iran, he said the hostility has nothing to do with Iran’s nuclear program, and mainly targets the Islamic Republic’s “independence.”

“Human rights or anything that America wants to bring up” against the Islamic Republic “is just a pretext to bash Iran,” Lendman underscored.

The *JCPOA* *joint commission* *pictured during its first meeting* at the *level* of *political directors* on *Oct. 19, 2015* at Palais Cobourg Hotel in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The Chicago-based analyst further said that any sanctions imposed on Iran under any given pretext constitute a “gross violation of the JCPOA” (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

Lendman added that the White House wants to undermine the international nuclear agreement.

The nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – back in 2015 in Vienna.

The JCPOA places certain limits on Iran’s atomic program in exchange for lifting nuclear related sanctions against the country.

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