UN Council Rejects US Bid to Impose 'Snapback Sanctions' on Iran

JERUSALEM, Israel –  The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday dismissed a request from the United States to reimpose virtually all international sanctions on Iran, citing a lack of consensus among member states.

Indonesia’s ambassador to the UN, Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country currently holds the rotating council presidency, announced the decision following requests from Russia and China to reveal the results of his polling of all 15 council members.

“Having contacted the members and received letters from many member countries it is clear to me that there is one member which has a particular position on the issues, while there are significant numbers of members who have contesting views," he said.

“In my view, there is no consensus in the council,” Djani said. “Thus, the president is not in the position to take further action.”

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Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally requested that the international community reinstate so-called "snapback" sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. He argued that the snapback sanctions are necessary because Iran has repeatedly violated the deal.  However, Tehran says this is the result of the US violating the agreement by withdrawing from it and then re-imposing harsh unilateral sanctions.

All of the council members, except the Dominican Republic, informed the council president that the Trump administration’s demand was illegal because Trump had already pulled the US out of the nuclear deal in 2018, and is no longer a participant in the accord. 

The US Mission to the UN insisted in a statement Tuesday that the US “is on firm legal ground to initiate the restoration of sanctions”

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft on Tuesday accused the UN of lacking “courage and moral clarity.”

Iran’s UN Mission to the UN applauded the decision.

“Iran trusts that the council members will continue preventing that country from undermining the U.N., including the Security Council,” the mission statement said.