ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Tehran is happy with the reassurance given to them by the United States on keeping business interests out of harm in light of a new US bill restricting visitor visas to the country, Iran's foreign ministry said Monday. Abbas Araghchi Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister said, according to BBC Persian, that US Secretary of State John Kerry has reassured Iran in a letter that Iranian businessmen will still be issued 10-year multiple entry visas. “We remain fully committed to the sanctions lifting,” Kerry’s letter reads. “The recent changes in Visa requirements will not in any way prevent us from meeting our JCPOA commitments…we will implement them so as not to interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran.” Araghchi said that Kerry's explanations were satisfactory for Iran. Kerry’s letter sent to Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamad Javad Zarif, reassures Tehran that Iranian business interests will not be hurt by the new visa bill passed by the US Congress this week. US and other Western powers have a standing deal with Iran over its nuclear program that will see to the lifting of sanctions and opening up Iran's markets to western companies. On Saturday, the Congress passed a new legislation that restricts the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which normally exempts nationals from 38 countries from having to obtain visas to visit the United States. The new law stipulates that the program no longer includes dual nationals from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan as well as anyone else who have traveled to those countries in the past five years.
