‘Standing with terrorists’: U.S. pushes UN on Iran sanctions

FPI / August 27, 2020

The U.S. called out members of the UN Security Council who "find themselves standing with terrorists" after the Council rejected Washington's push to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran.

Indonesian UN Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, who currently holds the rotating presidency on the Council, said in response to a question from Russia and China on Aug. 25 that "the president is not in the position to take further action" on the U.S. request.

Thirteen of the Security Council's 15 members last week said they opposed Washington's bid to invoke a "snapback" clause of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that the United States withdrew from more than two years ago, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

The U.S. maintained that it still has the legal right to trigger the sanctions, which were dropped under the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) reached in 2015, because a UN resolution at the time names the United States as a participant.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that by lodging a complaint with the Council on Aug. 20 he set in motion a 30-day process for reimposing the sanctions.

The move to activate the “snapback” came after the UN Security Council rejected the U.S. resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October.

Reuters quoted a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN as saying that Washington "is on firm legal ground to initiate the restoration of sanctions" and "the fact that some council members expressed disagreement...does not have any legal effect."

"Let me just make it really, really clear: the Trump administration has no fear in standing in limited company on this matter," U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the Council. "I only regret that other members of this council have lost their way and now find themselves standing in the company of terrorists."

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the U.S. effort "not only illegal, but simply will not lead to achieving the result that was envisaged by the United States."

"It means, there is NO SNAPBACK," he tweeted.

Free Press International