Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed an online summit with the United States, Britain, France, China, Germany and Iran in a bid to prevent “confrontation and escalation” at the United Nations, where Washington is trying to extend an arms embargo on Tehran .
“The issue is urgent,” Putin said in a statement on Friday, adding that the alternative was “only more escalation of tensions, increasing risk of conflict – such a scenario must be avoided.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was open to participating in the seven-way virtual top proposed by his Russian counterpart on the arms embargo on Iran.
“We confirm our availability in principle,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. “We have taken initiatives in the same spirit in the past.”
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The 15-member UN Security Council will later on Friday announce the result of a vote on a resolution by the United States to extend the arms embargo. Diplomats say it is bound to fail, putting the fate of a 2015 nuclear deal in 2015 between Iran and world powers at risk.
If the US does not succeed, it has threatened to use a return of all UN sanctions on Iran with a clause in the nuclear deal, known as a snapback, even though Washington signed the agreement in 2018.
Diplomats say the US could try to do so this new week.
Putin said Russia, which is an ally of Iran during the Syrian civil war, remained fully committed to the nuclear deal and that the goal of a video summit would be to “outline steps that would allow confrontation and escalation of” the situation in the Security Council “.
He also said that leaders could discuss the introduction of “reliable security and trust measures in the Persian Gulf”, adding that this could be “achieved if we achieve the political will and constructive approach of all our states and states”. combine the region “.
US President Donald Trump wants to negotiate a new deal with Iran that would prevent it from both developing nuclear weapons and restricting its activities in the region and elsewhere. He had called the 2015 nuclear deal – achieved by the Obama administration – “the worst deal ever”.
The 13-year-old UN arms embargo expires in October under the 2015 agreement preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from sanctions.
Diplomats warn that if the US triggers a snapback of sanctions, the process would be difficult and messy. They said several countries claimed that Washington could not legally activate a proceeds of sanctions and that the measures would not normally reimpose on Iran itself.
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