🌳❤️US dismisses opposition to restoring UN sanctions on Iran🌳❤️
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-dismisses-opposition-to-restoring-un-sanctions-on-iran/2020/08/21/af1dd566-e3f9-11ea-82d8-5e55d47e90ca_story.html
National
Security
US dismisses
opposition to restoring UN sanctions on Iran
Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the
U.N. Security Council, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at the United Nations, as U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft and U.S. special representative
for Iran Brian Hook listen. The Trump administration has formally notified the
United Nations of its demand for all U.N. sanctions on Iran to be restored,
citing significant Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal. (Mike
Segar/Pool via AP) (Associated Press)
By Edith M. Lederer and Matthew Lee | AP
August 22, 2020
at 12:00 a.m. GMT+2
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UNITED NATIONS — The Trump administration on Friday dismissed near
universal opposition to its demand to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran,
declaring that a 30-day countdown for the “snapback” of penalties eased under
the 2015 nuclear deal had begun.
U.S. allies and foes have joined forces to declare the action illegal
and doomed to failure, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. special
envoy for Iran Brian Hook strongly disagreed and questioned the motives of
those who object.
Opponents say
the U.S. lost the standing to trigger snapback when President Donald Trump
withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Pompeo and Hook maintain that the
United States retains that right and doesn’t need permission to use it.
“We don’t need
anyone’s permission,” Hook told reporters in a briefing Friday. “Iran is in
violation of its voluntary nuclear commitments. The condition has been met to
initiate snapback. And so we have now started to initiate snapback.”
He said that
“whether people support or oppose what we’re doing is not material,” adding
that “today is day one of the 30-day process.”
The five
countries now in dispute with the U.S. administration — Russia, China, Britain,
France and Germany — remain supporters of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the
Obama administration backed, to rein in Iran’s nuclear program and prevent its
development of nuclear weapons.
The European
Union announced Friday that the five nations and Iran will meet in Vienna on
Sept. 1.
That agreement
was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council in resolution 2231, and includes the
snapback provision.
Pompeo
officially informed the Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres on Thursday that the United States was invoking snapback, and
has the “legal right” because the United States is mentioned as a party to the
2015 nuclear deal in resolution 2231.
The Europeans
fear that the reimposition of sanctions may lead Iran to quit the nuclear deal
entirely and plow ahead with efforts to develop atomic weapons. They are hoping
to preserve the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in the event
President Donald Trump loses his bid for a second term. Democratic candidate
Joe Biden has said he would try to revive the agreement.
Following the
meeting with Pompeo, Indonesia’s U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, the
current council president, began one-on-one consultations with its 14 other
members on the legality of the U.S. action, council diplomats said, speaking on
condition of anonymity because discussions were private.
All members,
except the Dominican Republic, informed the council president that since the
United States is not a party to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or
JCPOA, the Trump administration’s action is illegal. Many sent letters obtained
by The Associated Press.
A Security
Council diplomat said the U.S. letter from Pompeo did not trigger snapback and
start the 30-day process to reimpose U.N. sanctions, stressing the importance
of ensuring that Iran understands this and does not make any rash decisions.
Diplomats had
predicted this overwhelming opposition from council members. In these
circumstances, the U.S. action would have no effect and the council president
would not be required to introduce a resolution to extend sanctions relief,
which would face a U.S. veto, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because consultations have been private.
Pompeo kept up
his sharp criticism of U.S. allies Britain, France and Germany, who didn’t
support a U.S. resolution to indefinitely extend the arms embargo on Iran. It
was resoundingly defeated a week ago, with only the Dominican Republic
supporting the Trump administration.
Pompeo accused
the Europeans on Thursday of privately agreeing with the U.S. on the need to
extend the arms embargo, but lacking courage to say so publicly and proposing
“no alternatives.” Instead, he said, they chose “to side with ayatollahs.”
On Friday,
Pompeo said it was “incomprehensible” that the Europeans didn’t support the
arms embargo’s indefinite extension.
“To side with
the Russians and the Chinese on this important issue at this important moment
in time at the U.N., I think, is really dangerous for the world,” he told Fox
News.
Hook again
repeated that “there was never a compromise proposal presented by any country”
to the United States, but diplomats said there were extensive discussions,
including on a six-month or one-year extension, and on lifting the embargo and
requiring all arms sales to be approved by the Security Council — but there was
no agreement among its 15 members.
The Europeans
are still hoping that an agreement might be reached before the Oct. 18
expiration of the Iran arms embargo that could bridge the major differences between
Russia and China, who support its lifting, and the United States, which seeks
an indefinite extension, the diplomats said.
Russia has been
the most vocal critic of U.S. action to impose snapback.
As soon as
Pompeo delivered the letter invoking snapback, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador,
Dmitry Polyansky, tweeted: “Looks like there are 2 planets. A fictional
dog-eat-dog one where US pretends it can do whatever it wants without
‘cajoling’ anyone, breach and leave deals but still benefit from them, and another
one where the rest of the world lives and where intl law and diplomacy reign.”
Pompeo
expressed certainty in a Fox News interview that U.N. sanctions will be
restored, saying, “Russia and China can talk a good game today, but I assure
you the United States will use every tool in its arsenal to make sure that the
Chinese and the Russians are incapable of delivering weapon systems to Iran
that threaten us.”
He added, “We
will do everything in our power to make sure that they don’t get the money that
comes alongside being a global arms dealer as well.”
Earlier Friday, Pompeo announced visa restrictions on 14 Iranians,
including 13 officials who posed as Iranian diplomats and assassinated Iranian
academic and opposition figure Kazem Rajavi in Switzerland in 1990. He was the
brother of Iranian opposition leader Massoud Rajavi, who has not been seen
since 2003. Pompeo also imposed restrictions on Hojatollah Khodaei Souri,
director of Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.
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