Tasnim � A senior member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said the legislative body has started talks with the ambassadors of neighboring and Muslims countries in a bid to counter Washington�s sanctions against Tehran.

�Given the existing conditions (and) the unjust and unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has taken some measures in accordance with its legal duty to improve the level of cooperation with Muslim and neighboring countries (and) establish more friendly relations and counter the sanctions,� Abolfazl Hassanbeigi told the Tasnim News Agency.

Based on a decision taken by the National Security Commission�s presiding board, 23 members of the commission are meeting with envoys from 23 neighboring countries, as well as some countries boosting relations with which is needed, he said.

A number of these meetings have been held over the past weeks, the lawmaker added.

Meetings are also scheduled to take place in the future with the ambassadors of Norway, Sweden, Spain, China, Japan, Russia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Britain, Hassanbeigi said.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement achieved in Vienna in 2015 after two years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

After Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal, his administration moved to re-implement the previous sanctions against Iran.

American authorities say the new sanctions would place �unprecedented economic pressure� on Iran and are seeking to impose sanctions against the countries that do not cut imports of Iranian oil to �zero� by November 4.