Iran: US threatens nuclear deal, warns of 'strong reaction'

Ali Akbar Salehi was alluding to a bill before President Barack Obama that would extend US sanctions under the Iran Sanctions Act l by 10 years. The bill was submitted to Obama after the US Senate voted to extend it last week.

The nuclear deal between Iran and the United States and five other world powers lifted international sanctions in exchange for limitations on the Iranian nuclear program. But US sanctions remain and will expire on December 31 if Obama doesn't sign the extension into law.

Speaking at a nuclear security conference convened by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Salehi urged Washington to desist from 'irrational and provocative' moves. U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, who was also at the conference, said Salehi also 'raised Iran's concerns' during a meeting between the two men. He told reporters while Iran 'strongly' views the Senate's vote to extend the sanctions act as a violation of the nuclear deal, "I stated equally strongly that we do not view it" as such.