The United Nations Security Council has rejected a US bid to extend a global arms embargo on Iran.
In the Security Council’s vote on Friday, Washington received only support from the Dominican Republic for its resolution to extend the embargo indefinitely, requiring far from the minimum of nine “yes” votes for adoption.
Eleven members on the body of 15 members, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, remember her.
Russia and China were strongly opposed to extending the 13-year ban, which expired on October 18 under a 2015 nuclear treaty signed between Iran and six world powers.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the defeat of the resolution ahead of a very short virtual council meeting to reveal the vote.
“The failure of the Security Council to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is unattainable,” he said in a statement.
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Israel and the six Arab Gulf states supporting the enlargement “know Iran will spread even greater chaos and destruction if the embargo passes,” Pompeo said, “but the Security Council has chosen to ignore them.”
Zhang Jun, China’s ambassador to the UN, said in a statement that the result “shows once again that unilateralism is not supported and that bullying will fail”.
Washington could now follow up on a threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran with a clause in the nuclear deal, known as a snapback, even though US President Donald Trump had unilaterally abandoned the 2018 agreement. On Thursday, the US circulated to councilors a six-page memo explaining why Washington remains a participant in the nuclear deal and still has the right to use the snapback facility.
In a statement after the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said Washington “has every right to initiate the snapback mechanism, adding:” In the coming days, the United States will follow through on this promise to stop at nothing extend the arms embargo. “
‘Diplomatic disaster’
Al Jazeera reporter Kristen Saloomey reported from New York that the U.S. defeat on Friday was no surprise.
“But it’s a surprise that the U.S. bid failed so miserably,” she said.
“Any party to the nuclear deal could trigger the ‘snapback’ clause if it is seen that Iran is in conflict with the agreement. But Russia and China say the US withdrawal from the deal two years ago means it has its right to do so. “Other members of the council would agree,” she said.
“The Europeans have expressed some concerns about conventional weapons going to Iran. But at the end of the day, they say that their concerns about nuclear weapons are very important.”
Under the deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions and other benefits. Following the withdrawal of the US and the imposition of unilateral sanctions, Tehran has already re-scaled compliance with parts of the agreement. Diplomats have said that triggering the “snapback” provision would further jeopardize the fragile agreement, as Iran would lose a major incentive to limit its nuclear activities.
Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi warned Washington against trying to trigger a collection of sanctions.
“Imposition of any sanctions or restrictions on Iran by the Security Council will be strictly enforced by Iran and our options are not restricted. And the United States and any entity that may assist or procure it in its illegal conduct will bear full responsibility, he said in a statement.
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Jarret Blanc, a former ally of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that the US failed bid was a “diplomatic disaster”.
“It proves that President Donald Trump and his team are not only bad at the strategy of approaching Iran, they are bad at the day-to-day tactics of diplomacy. It is inconceivable that the US should not have more than one vote. for a bypass could resolution like this. “
But some analysts said they suspect Washington has deliberately proposed a hardline concept, knowing councilors could not accept it.
“The fact is that everyone at the UN believes this [resolution] is just a prelude to a US attempt to trigger snapback and sink the Iranian nuclear deal, “Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
While voting on the US resolution of the US was under way, Russia said its president Vladimir Putin had convened a meeting of leaders of the five permanent members of the Security Council along with Germany and Iran to prevent escalation over US attempts to extend the Iranian arms embargo.
In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin said “the question is urgent”, adding that the purpose of the video conference would be “to outline steps to prevent confrontation and exacerbation of the situation at the UN Security Council”.
“Once the leaders are fundamentally ready for a conversation, we propose to coordinate the agenda immediately,” Putin said. “The alternative is to further build tensions, to increase the risk of conflict. This development must be prevented.”
Asked if he would take part, Trump told reporters: “I hear there is something, but I have not been told yet.”
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed France’s ‘availability in principle’ to Putin’s proposal. “We have taken initiatives in the same spirit in the past,” it said.
Jarret Blanc, a former ally of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the failed US bid a “diplomatic disaster”.
“It proves that President Donald Trump and his team are not only bad at the strategy to approach Iran, they are bad at day to day tactics of diplomacy. It is inconceivable that it could not turn more than one vote for a resolution like this. ”
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