United Nations Security Council held briefing on the implementation of resolution 2231 of Iran Nuclear Agreement at UN world headquarters in New York City June 30, 2020.

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK –  Iran’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called on the  Security Council Tuesday to stand up against U.S. pressure to extend the UN arms embargo against Tehran. The Security Council held an open Video Conference Meeting  on the implementation of Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme.  The UN embargo is set to expire in October. In the debate that followed, US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo – describing Iran as “the world’s most heinous terrorist regime” – said that Washington’s “overwhelming preference” is to work with the Council to extend that embargo that the Council put into place in 2017 through resolution 1747 (2007).

“Don’t just take it from me or from the United States…From Israel to the Gulf, countries in the Middle East – who are most exposed to Iran’s predations – are speaking with a single voice: Extend the arms embargo.This Council has a responsibility to listen to them”.

-U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo

He added that if the arms embargo is lifted,  “Iran will be free to purchase Russian-made fighter jets that can strike up to a 3,000-kilometer radius – putting cities like Riyadh, New Delhi, Rome, and Warsaw in Iranian crosshairs.”

TEHRAN Has Fulfilled All Of It Commitments in Good Faith:  Iran Foreign Minister

Iran’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Zarif responded that if the Council falters, it will be a “generational setback” for multilateralism and the rule of law in the face of a US campaign of intimidation against international institutions. Pointing to successive IAEA monitoring reports that found Iran in compliance with the Plan of Action, he said that Tehran has fulfilled all of its commitments in good faith, while Washington and its “enablers” have pressured the Secretariat into a one-sided interpretation of resolution 2231.

 Iran nuclear deal still best way to ensure peace, DiCarlo tells Security Council

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo  presented the latest Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of resolution 2231.  DiCarlo said the UN regrets that the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is in doubt, but notwithstanding current challenges, that landmark deal is still the best way to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme proceeds along a peaceful path.   DiCarlo, the UN’s top political official, told the Security Council that the 2015 agreement – which the Council endorsed through resolution 2231 – remains crucial to the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture and to regional and international security. 

“It is therefore regrettable that the future of this agreement is in doubt”, she said, pointing to President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018, the re-imposition of US sanctions and Washington’s decision not to extend waivers for oil trading with Iran.”

-Rosemary DiCarlo

The current US Trump Administration pulled out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions. In July 2019, Iran reportedly breached its uranium stockpile limit, and announced its intention to continue enriching uranium, posing a more serious proliferation risk.

The meeting comes at a time of increased scrutiny of Iran by the US at the UN Security Council. In line with resolution 2231, the restrictions on arms-related transfers and travel ban measures are set to expire in October. Over the past several months, the US has led a public campaign emphasising the importance of maintaining the arms embargo on Iran beyond October.  The US has argued that Iran poses a threat to peace and security in the region and continues to supply weapons, in violation of resolution 2231, to terrorist groups and proxies in Lebanon and Yemen.  

RUSSIA  and CHINA  Resist US Arms Embargo Extension on Iran

US efforts to extend the arms embargo on Iran have already encountered resistance from China and Russia. These members have communicated formally, via letters to the Security Council, their disapproval of the US initiative. They reiterated their support for the JCPOA and condemned unilateral sanctions by the US on Iran, which they perceive as a major impediment to full implementation of resolution 2231. Both Pompeo and Hook have stated publicly that the US would renew the arms embargo by triggering the snapback mechanism if the Council fails to adopt a resolution to that end. China and Russia have challenged the legality of the US assertion that it still has a right to trigger a snapback mechanism, given that it withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018