While Washington is threatening to reintroduce all UN sanctions on Iran, should the Security Council decide to lift the embargo, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have declared the idea harmful – arguing that the US is right would not have after its 2018 withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), often known as the nuclear deal and aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
But Pompeo said on Friday that U.S. agency on the arms embargo was a separate issue. “This is not about the JCPoA, this is about whether the world will allow Iran to buy and sell arms systems again – it’s so clear, it’s so simple,” he said.
“We do not think the time is right, we do not think Iran has given any indication that it is in a remote place where the world [should] they sell high-weapon systems, “he said, referring to Iran’s recent failure to satisfy requests from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), over which the country was officially infamous in June.
“Iran must provide full, transparent and direct cooperation with the IAEA,” Pompeo said, adding that he “would therefore urge peoples to urge the UN Security Council to renew the arms embargo on Tehran.”
Despite recent calls from European countries Washington to refrain from actions that could implicate the nuclear deal, Pompeo threshed a question on the subject during his otherwise serene trip to Vienna.
“We will do everything we can within our diplomatic toolset to ensure that this arms embargo does not expire,” he said.
