United States was isolated on Friday on its bid to reimpose global sanctions on Iran with 13 nations on the 15-member U.N. Security Council expressing their resistance
The United States was isolated on Friday on its bid to reimpose global sanctions on Iran with 13 nations on the 15-member U.N. Security Council expressing their resistance, asserting that Washington's move is void given it's using a procedure consented under a nuclear deal it quit two years ago.
The United States has accused Iran of breaching a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran developing atomic weapons in return for sanctions relief. But President Donald Trump described it as the"worst deal " and stopped in 2018.
Diplomats said Russia, China and many other countries are unlikely to reimpose the sanctions on Iran. Pompeo repeatedly cautioned Russia and China against that on Friday, threatening U.S. activity should they refuse to reimpose the U.N. measures on Iran.
The United States acted Thursday after the Security Council resoundingly rejected its bid last week to extend an arms embargo on Iran past its expiration in October. Just the Dominican Republic joined Washington in voting.
Dominican Republic hasn't yet written to the council to state its position on the sanctions snapback push.
Below the process Washington says it has triggered, it appears all U.N. sanctions ought to be reimposed at midnight GMT (8 p.m New York time) on Sept. 19 - just days ahead of Trump is due to deal with world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, the yearly meeting that will be mostly virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic.
WHAT NOW?
A 2015 Security Council settlement enshrining the nuclear bargain states that if no council member has put forward a draft resolution to expand sanctions relief on Iran over 10 days of a non-compliance complaint, then the human body's president shall do so within the remaining 20 days.
The United States will be able to veto this, giving it a cleaner debate that sanctions on Iran need to be reimposed.
But , the 2015 resolution also claims that the council would"take into account the perspectives of those states involved." Given the strong resistance, some diplomats say the council president Indonesia for August and Niger for September - would not need to put a draft text.
"Faced with this very powerful view of a majority of all Security Council members that the snapback process hasn't been triggered, as the presidency they are not bound to introduce the draft resolution," said a U.N. Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pompeo and outgoing U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook signaled that Washington expects Indonesia or Niger to Set a text into a vote. Another U.S. option is to put forward the draft itself or ask the Dominican Republic to do so.
The United States asserts that it may activate the sanctions snapback procedure since the 2015 Security Council resolution still names it as a nuclear bargain participant.
But in a joint letter to the Security Council on Thursday hours after the U.S. filed it criticism, Britain, Germany and France said:"Any decisions and activities which are taken based on this procedure or on its own possible result would also be devoid of any legal effect"
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres distanced himself from the showdown in the Security Council.
"Security Council members need to translate their own resolution," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "It is not exactly the Secretary-General."
The United States has accused Iran of breaching a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran developing atomic weapons in return for sanctions relief. But President Donald Trump described it as the"worst deal " and stopped in 2018.
Diplomats said Russia, China and many other countries are unlikely to reimpose the sanctions on Iran. Pompeo repeatedly cautioned Russia and China against that on Friday, threatening U.S. activity should they refuse to reimpose the U.N. measures on Iran.
The United States acted Thursday after the Security Council resoundingly rejected its bid last week to extend an arms embargo on Iran past its expiration in October. Just the Dominican Republic joined Washington in voting.
Dominican Republic hasn't yet written to the council to state its position on the sanctions snapback push.
Below the process Washington says it has triggered, it appears all U.N. sanctions ought to be reimposed at midnight GMT (8 p.m New York time) on Sept. 19 - just days ahead of Trump is due to deal with world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, the yearly meeting that will be mostly virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic.
WHAT NOW?
A 2015 Security Council settlement enshrining the nuclear bargain states that if no council member has put forward a draft resolution to expand sanctions relief on Iran over 10 days of a non-compliance complaint, then the human body's president shall do so within the remaining 20 days.
The United States will be able to veto this, giving it a cleaner debate that sanctions on Iran need to be reimposed.
But , the 2015 resolution also claims that the council would"take into account the perspectives of those states involved." Given the strong resistance, some diplomats say the council president Indonesia for August and Niger for September - would not need to put a draft text.
"Faced with this very powerful view of a majority of all Security Council members that the snapback process hasn't been triggered, as the presidency they are not bound to introduce the draft resolution," said a U.N. Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pompeo and outgoing U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook signaled that Washington expects Indonesia or Niger to Set a text into a vote. Another U.S. option is to put forward the draft itself or ask the Dominican Republic to do so.
The United States asserts that it may activate the sanctions snapback procedure since the 2015 Security Council resolution still names it as a nuclear bargain participant.
But in a joint letter to the Security Council on Thursday hours after the U.S. filed it criticism, Britain, Germany and France said:"Any decisions and activities which are taken based on this procedure or on its own possible result would also be devoid of any legal effect"
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres distanced himself from the showdown in the Security Council.
"Security Council members need to translate their own resolution," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "It is not exactly the Secretary-General."