“Our objective now is to work with the Security Council to adopt this resolution,” said Mike Pompeo.
Washington:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Wednesday of a return of UN sanctions against Iran if the Security Council does not extend the arms embargo expiring in October.
The United States has presented a resolution to extend the embargo on conventional weapons, but faces opposition from Russia and China, who have veto power, which are expected to win contracts with Tehran.
“Our goal now is to work with the Security Council to adopt this resolution,” Pompeo told reporters.
“But, if that does not happen, we remind the world that the Obama administration has made it very clear that the United States has the unilateral ability to bring sanctions back in place,” he said, confirming the intentions of the United States.
Pompeo, generally best known for his partisan attacks on the previous administration, cited both former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry on the right of the United States to impose sanctions if the Iran violated the embargo.
The five-year ban on the sale of conventional weapons was part of a 2015 resolution in favor of a historic nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by Obama and Kerry, from whom President Donald Trump has withdrawn.
The Trump administration has demonstrated in an innovative way that the United States remains a participant in the nuclear agreement – therefore able to initiate the sanctions snapback – as was mentioned in the 2015 resolution, despite their withdrawal ulterior.
Iran, already facing heavy US unilateral sanctions, warns that US-initiated reimposition of UN sanctions – the validity of which will certainly be questioned by other countries – would mark the end of the nuclear deal.
Iran denies any intention to build nuclear weapons and says it needs conventional weapons to defend itself in a hostile region.
The United States’ proposed UN resolution would condemn Iran in a September 2019 attack on oil facilities in its regional rival, Saudi Arabia.
France, Britain and Germany, which still support the nuclear deal, said last week their support for the extension of the arms embargo.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
