The United States has extended sanctions against Sudan for one more year, claiming the Islamic country’s policies are still an “extraordinary threat” to America’s national security.

“The actions and policies of the government of Sudan continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” President Barack Obama said in a statement issued on Monday evening.

However, the US embassy in Khartoum said in a separate statement on Monday that the one-year extension was “technical” and the sanctions could still be relaxed.

It said President Obama’s statement was “part of a routine, annual process that does not prejudice the ability of the president to provide sanctions relief at any point in the future.”

Sudan has been under US sanctions since 1997. Washington accuses Khartoum of supporting terrorist groups, and it has blacklisted the country as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.

The American embassy in its statement claimed Washington – despite extending anti-Sudan sanctions for another year — intends to continue its policy of engagement with the African nation.

Presstv