US would respond to violations of Iran nuclear deal

Washington: Any violations by Iran of a nuclear deal reached in July are more likely to be incremental ones rather than major violations, but they will still require a U.S. response, a U.S. Treasury official told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Adam Szubin, the U.S. Treasury`s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, told a Senate committee such a "small breach" would be Iran "sticking a toe across the line" to test the United States and other world powers.

"What we need to do then is obviously hit Iran in a proportionate way, show them that those breaches have consequences," he said. "Otherwise, we`re just asking for larger breaches."

Members of the Senate Banking Committee questioned Szubin and State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman on Wednesday over the terms of a nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers that would curb Iran`s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.