US Demands International Community Restore UN Sanctions Against Iran

JERUSALEM, Israel – The United States on Thursday demanded that virtually all of the previous UN sanctions against Iran be restored, citing the Islamic republic’s failure to abide by the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal – known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the notification to the president of the UN Security Council in New York. This activated a mechanism aimed at reinstating so-called "snapback" sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.

“This process will lead to those sanctions coming back into effect 30 days from today,” Pompeo told reporters, while also blasting the 2015 nuclear deal as “one-sided” and “foolish.”

“It didn’t bring stability to the Middle East, nor did it moderate the regime’s behavior. And it never can. It never will,” Pompeo said.

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He accused the remaining signatories of the deal – Germany, France, the United Kingdom – of siding “with the ayatollahs” by not coming up with an alternative to the nuclear deal and failing to bring Iran into compliance. 

“We call on the international community to join us in crafting a stronger deal that addresses the full range of Iran’s behavior and protects people of all nations that simply want to live free from Iranian predation,” said Pompeo.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has reported Iranian violations of the agreement. However, Tehran says this is the result of the US violating the agreement by withdrawing from it and then re-imposing harsh unilateral sanctions.

The US abandoned the nuclear deal on May 8, 2018.

Majid Takht Ravanchi, the Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, suggested that the US is trying to mislead the international community “by resorting to lies and fabrications.”

"According to conclusive legal facts, the US is not a participant and has no right to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism and its arbitrary interpretation of Resolution 2231 cannot change this reality,” Ravanchi continued.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a vocal critic of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal – praised the US’s decision to trigger snapback sanctions.

" This is the right decision. Just as in 2018, the United States made the right decision when it withdrew from the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran. That deal should never have been made. It didn't block Iran's path to the bomb, it paved its path to the bomb,” said Netanyahu.

The US’s actions have set the stage for a showdown in the UN Security Council.

China, Britain, France, and virtually all other Security Council members call the move illegal, arguing that the US does not have the right to trigger snapback sanctions because it is no longer a participant of the accord. Germany, a participant in the Iran deal but not a council member, is also opposed.

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