US Plan to Extend Iran Arms Embargo May Lead to Crisis in UNSC, Russian Official

TEHRAN (defapress) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the United States that its attempt to extend an arms embargo against Iran is pessimistic and could lead to a crisis in the United Nations Security Council.

News ID: 81106

Date: 15 May 2020 - 18:38

Ryabkov has underlined on Thursday that no one should be able to implement the UN Security Council resolution selectively and decisively, Sputnik reported.

The Russian deputy foreign minister noted that Washington has withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (the JCPOA) two years ago and its measures are now in grave violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

“Washington would not find it easy here. However, given this stubbornness of the United States, it can be said that the next crisis is taking shape in the Security Council and in the United Nations in general, and I can agree with that conclusion,” Ryabkov added.

A day earlier, Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said the US cannot demand the extension of arms embargo against Iran since it is no more a party to the JCPOA.

"I do not see any reasons why arms embargo should be imposed on Iran," Nebenzya told a press conference with journalists.

"It (the arms embargo) expires on 18 October. It was temporary. Let’s call a spade a spade: it was not in fact even an embargo. It is the provision where Iran is allowed to export/import armaments on the consent of the Security Council. Of course, you may call it a de-facto embargo, because we know what would happen if Iran asked for such waiver, but technically it was not an embargo. For us it’s clear, it expires on 18 October. We proceed from that fact," the Russian envoy underlined.

The reaction came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was preparing a legal argument that the US would remain a participant in the JCPOA –already renounced by the US president- as part of an intricate strategy to pressure the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran.

According to Pompeo’s plan, bound to be opposed by many of Washington’s European allies, the US would, in essence, claim it legally remains a “participant state” in the nuclear accord only for the purposes of invoking a “snapback” that would restore the UN sanctions on Iran that were in place before the nuclear deal.

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