Iran

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Khamenei Orders Iranian Authorities to Block U.S. Imports

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has directed Iranian authorities to block imports of American goods, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website on Sunday quotes him as advising authorities to “be watchful about irregular imports after lifting sanctions and seriously avoid importing consumer goods from the United States.”

Iran’s imports from the U.S. reportedly reached $140 million in the first half of 2015, around 60 percent higher than in the same period in 2014. The imports mainly consist of medical devices, food and seeds.

Iran’s semi-official PressTV news agency reported that government ministries are planning to enforce Khamenei’s order.

“We will implement the blockade on imports of American goods in a directive,” Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said on Saturday.

The plan is in line with Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent letter to President Hassan Rouhani, setting out the government’s obligations on empowering national production, developing an “economy of resistance” and checking imports of US-made goods, he added.

The Leader wrote the letter more than a week ago to outline his conditional approval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — Iran’s nuclear accord reached in July with the US, Europe, Russia and China.

According to PressTV, Khamenei warned against allowing “unbridled entry” of American products into Iran.

Over 200 Iranian lawmakers wrote a letter to President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday demanding that Iran refuse to implement its obligations under the nuclear deal it reached with the P5+1 powers until all sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been lifted.

[Photo: Manuchehr lenziran / YouTube ]