The UN Security Council on Friday voted overwhelmingly against a US resolution to extend a definitive arms embargo against Iran. Without further action, the 13-year embargo will now expire in mid-October Iran to buy and sell conventional weapons without UN restrictions.
The embargo was first formed in 2007, well before Iran’s nuclear deal in 2015 was forged by the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, Iran and the European Union. That deal, which prompted the October 2020 expiration of the embargo, gives Iran relief from economic sanctions in exchange for the country not developing nuclear weapons.
The United States, which abandoned Iran’s nuclear deal in 2018, argued that the arms embargo should not be allowed to lapse as Iran continues to support terrorist organizations. But Russia and China say the US has no place to present resolutions on a deal that is no longer part of it, and European allies expressed concern that extending the embargo would cause Iran to withdraw from the deal and begins to develop nuclear weapons.
Of the 15-nation Security Council, 11 nations abstained, with two voting in favor and two abstentions. The United States would need nine votes to rule – but Russia and China, the two peoples who voted no, each had a veto power and would be able to defeat the resolution, even if it got the nine votes. The Dominican Republic is the only nation that voted with the US
“The result of the #UNSC vote on arms embargo against Iran shows – once again – the isolation of the US,” The Foreign Minister tweets to the mood. “Message from the Council: NO to UNILATERALISM.”
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called for a ceasefire, writing, “The Security Council’s failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is unattainable.”
“It rejected a reasonable resolution to extend the 13-year-old arms embargo on Iran and paved the way for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell conventional weapons without specific UN restrictions for the first time in more than in decades, “said Pompeo.
The White House now has options: send an increasingly difficult line against Iran, or compromise with European allies who have said they would consider a temporary extension of the embargo.
The administration has already threatened to re-impose sanctions, such as a “snapback” on Iran, a move that European diplomats say could threaten the nuclear deal. Other nations have questioned whether the US has the international legal authority to do so, a decision that will take months to resolve.
In a statement released after the vote, UN Ambassador Kelly Craft doubled over those threats, writing, “The United States has acted in good faith in this process and made it clear to all parties that failure was simply not an option. Under Resolution 2231, “The United States has every right to begin snapback with provisions of previous Security Council resolutions. In the coming days, the United States will follow through on this promise to stop at nothing to extend the arms embargo.”
In anticipation of the defeat of the US proposal, Russian President Vladimir Putin this week proposed a meeting with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as Germany and Iran, to prevent tensions with the US the deal escalate and disrupt.
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