World

US Has No Right to Demand UNSC Extend Arms Embargo on Iran After Leaving JCPOA, Beijing Says

BEIJING (Sputnik) - The United States has unilaterally withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and has no right to demand that the United Nations Security Council extend the arms embargo on the Islamic republic, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said in a letter to the UN secretary-general.
Sputnik

"Wang Yi: All provisions of #UNSCR2231, including arms-related arrangements, should be earnestly implemented[;] US is no longer #JCPOA participant, and has no right to demand #UNSC invoke a snap-back[;] The only way to move forward is to effectively safeguard & implement JCPOA", China’s Permanent Mission to the UN wrote on Twitter, quoting Wang's letter to Guterres and UNSC President Nicolas de Riviere.

Moscow, too, has said that it sees no legal grounds for the embargo on Iran to be extended after it expires in October, in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2231. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the measure was designed as temporary to support the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Russian Deputy FM: US Attempts to Interpret JCPOA in Its Favour 'Could Lead to Serious Consequences'
The US is actively pushing to extend the UN arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October. In a call with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed the "importance" of extending the embargo. The same day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that he expects Russia and China to block the US efforts.

In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear programme and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption. In 2018, the US pulled out of the JCPOA and reinstated harsh sanctions on Tehran.

Discuss