On May 13, 2020, the United States publicly threatened to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran if the UN Security Council does not extend an arms embargo on Tehran. The embargo is due to expire in October under the Iran nuclear deal.

Brian HOOK, the US special envoy for Iran confirmed the strategy two weeks after a US official said on condition of anonymity the US had told Britain, France, and Germany of its plan.

HOOK wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “one way or another” the US will make sure the arms embargo remains.

He said that Washington drafted a Security Council resolution and “will press ahead with diplomacy and build support”. “If American diplomacy is frustrated by a veto, however, the US retains the right to renew the arms embargo by other means”.

HOOK refers to the ability of a party to the Iran nuclear deal to trigger a snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran that includes the arms embargo.

The only way the President TRUMP can maneuver his intentions to bring back the arms embargo is because of a Security Council resolution in 2015 that still names the US as a participant to the deal.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily NEBENZIA told to the reporters on Tuesday that “This is ridiculous”. “They are not members; they have no right to trigger.”

Tensions between Iran and the US have escalated since the TRUMP administration withdrew from the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling US sanctions.

Iran has breached several central limits of the deal, including on its stock of enriched uranium, in response to the US withdrawal and Washington’s reimposition of sanctions that have slashed Iran’s oil exports.

UK, France, and Germany are trying to save the deal, but have made little progress.

This article was edited using the data from the Aljazeera.com, Reuters.com, and English.alaraby.co.uk. 

Source of the photo: www.reuters.com.