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The reinstatement of the punitive measures pursued by the US government “is not legally competent”: Germany, Great Britain and France continue to cross the dispute with the United States over UN sanctions against Iran.
The ambassadors to the UN of the three European countries emphasized in a letter to the president of the UN Security Council in New York that they do not see the US in the legal position to activate the so-called snapback mechanism. This opinion shares a large part of the most powerful body in the UN, he said.
The contract concluded with the Islamic Republic in 2015 should continue to apply in its entirety. The nuclear deal should prevent Tehran from building an atomic bomb, while Iran should benefit from economic cooperation. The United States unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018.
“Snapback” is a possibility for the member states of the nuclear agreement to denounce the violations of the Iranian government to the Security Council. This means that all UN sanctions from the moment before the agreement can be reinstated within 30 days, without other members being able to avoid it with a veto. In their opinion, the US did this in August, so they consider that the snapback will be completed next Sunday night.
It is not clear how the United States will react if the majority of countries do not follow it in this regard: 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council believe that the United States will no longer have the right to take the step after leaving.
The US government responded that it was entitled to the initiative because the United States was involved in the 2015 UN resolution on the nuclear deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified the activation of the rollback mechanism in August with “significant” violations by Iran of the nuclear deal.
The governments of Germany, France and Great Britain had already declared at that time that the United States was not authorized to do this. Pompeo accused the European states of “siding with the ayatollahs.”
Like the United States, France and Great Britain are permanent members of the Security Council; Germany is currently a temporary member there. All three European countries are among the signatory states of the Iran nuclear deal.
The administration of US President Donald Trump launched the initiative to activate the rollback mechanism after it failed in the Security Council with a draft resolution for an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran. This expires in October.
