Kerry's Letter to Zarif Regarding Travel Restriction Legislation to the U.S.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the U.S. Secretary of State assured his Iranian counterpart in a letter that the U.S. government would implement the visa restriction law for individuals who have traveled to Iran in a way that would not obstruct Iran's legitimate economic interests. Iranian news agencies, including the state-run IRNA, published a translation of the original letter from John Kerry on Sunday, December 20. According to this report, the letter was sent on Saturday, December 19, in response to Mr. Zarif's inquiry during a meeting with John Kerry about the amendment to the 'visa waiver program.' In the letter published by IRNA, John Kerry assured Mr. Zarif that the U.S. government is committed to 'fully fulfilling' its obligations to lift sanctions against Iran based on the Vienna nuclear agreement. The U.S. Secretary of State also promised his Iranian counterpart that the U.S. would implement the new changes for obtaining U.S. visas in a way that would not create any obstacles for Iran's legitimate economic interests. Mr. Kerry emphasized in this letter that 'to this end, we potentially have multiple tools at our disposal, including the issuance of 10-year multiple-entry business visas, programs to expedite the issuance of business visas, and the discretion to suspend the enforcement of the law granted to us under this new legislation.' Barack Obama, the U.S. President, on Friday afternoon, December 18, effectively endorsed Congress's plan for stricter visa exemptions by signing the budget bill for the next year. According to this plan, citizens of 38 countries who do not need a visa to enter the United States must obtain a visa if they have traveled to countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Sudan in the past five years. This plan has raised concerns in Iran, which have been reflected in domestic media, including IRNA, stating that this plan could hinder the travel of many foreign traders and investors to Iran following the lifting of sanctions. Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, in an interview with the news website Al-Monitor, published on Saturday, December 20, referred to this plan and stated that 'unfortunately, Washington's actions carry contradictory messages, most of which are negative, including the plan to limit visa exemptions' approved by the U.S. Congress. On Sunday, 102 members of the Iranian parliament issued a written notice to the Iranian president, deeming the recent U.S. House of Representatives legislation a 'clear violation of the JCPOA' and calling for reciprocal action by the Iranian government according to the law. However, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, expressed hope that with Mr. Kerry's letter, the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement would 'come to fruition' in the month of Dey (December-January). He announced that 'intensive negotiations' between Iranian experts and the 1+5 group in Vienna are still ongoing and have recently 'made satisfactory progress in resolving the last technical and legal points' related to the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement.