The United States is circulating a revised resolution that would extend a UN arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, and is seeking more support in the 15-member Security Council, where veto power Russia and China have voiced strong opposition.
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the new concept “takes into account advice and simply does what everyone knew should be done – extend the arms embargo to prevent Iran from buying and selling fairly conventional weapons”.
“It is only common that the world’s # 1 state sponsor for terrorism is not given the means to inflict even greater damage to the world,” she said in a statement.
Iran said on Wednesday that the move revealed that the US was “forced to withdraw” from its original resolution and predicted that its new arms embargo push would fail at the Security Council.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also warned of “consequences” if the UN Security Council supports the new US resolution.
“We have high hopes that America will fail,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting of his cabinet. “We have high hopes that America will realize its failure and show its isolation.”
Council diplomats said the revised draft could be put in a final form on Thursday and put to the vote Friday.
‘Reasonable grounds’
The renewed concept, obtained by The Associated Press, is only four paragraphs and replaces the original seven-page concept, with 35 paragraphs, circulated in June.
The original draft included several provisions which some diplomats objected to the extension of the arms embargo and were eliminated.
One provision in the original resolution would have authorized all U.S. Member States to control cargo entering or passing through its territory at airports, ports, and free trade zones from Iran or thereabouts, if the Member State had “reasonable grounds” to believe the charge “contained prohibited items.
Another provision would have condemned a September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia and December 2019 attacks on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, saying Iran was responsible.
The new draft states the arms embargo, despite the expiration of October 18, “will continue to apply until the Security Council decides otherwise”. It says full implementation of the arms embargo “is essential for maintaining international peace and security”.
‘Reject this move’
Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi tweeted: “Re-created by UNSC [Security Council] members, US was forced to withdraw from its draft resolution … and proposed a different version. “
“The new concept is similar – in its NATURE and PURPOSE – to the previous one,” he tweeted. “Confidence that the Council will reject this move again.”
The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapons systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its crumbling military equipment, many of which had been purchased by the shah before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports.
The US drive to make the arms embargo permanent follows President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from 2018 from the 2015 nuclear deal between six major powers and Iran, which was aimed at preventing Iranian development of nuclear weapons.
Tehran has repeatedly stated that it has no interest or intention to produce a nuclear bomb.
The UN Security Council Resolution of 2015, which endorses the nuclear deal, includes a provision lifting the arms embargo on Iran on 18 October.
The foreign ministers of Russia and China, in separate letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council last month, were sharply critical of the US attempt to extend the arms embargo indefinitely.
They gave every indication that they would veto such a resolution if it received the minimum nine “yes” votes in the 15-member council, which is likely to appear.
‘Snapback’ nuclear deal
If the resolution is defeated, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested that the US introduce the “snapback” mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore all UN sanctions on Iran. “Snapback” was proposed in the event that it was proved that Iran was in conflict with the agreement, under which it received billions of dollars in sanctions in exchange for sidewalks on its nuclear program.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the Trump administration of launching a politically motivated campaign against Iran and called for a “universal condemnation” of US attempts to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic.
He said Trump was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and now has no legal right to try to use the UN resolution that supports the deal to continue the embargo indefinitely.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the arms embargo should be lifted on October 18. He also argued that because the US is no longer a party to the nuclear deal, it “has no right to demand the Security Council to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions” through the snap back provision.
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Iran’s Zarif says ending arms embargo ‘inseparable’ from nuclear deal |
The five remaining signatories to the 2015 deal – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – remain committed to the agreement. Diplomats from several of these countries have expressed serious concerns that the extension of the arms embargo would lead to the withdrawal of Iran from the deal and its rapid pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The US says Iran has not cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency for a year and has moved many weapons to proxies in the Middle East despite the embargo.
If the embargo is lifted, the US Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran would likely try to buy Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 train aircraft, and T-90 tanks.
Tehran may also try to buy Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft system S-400 and its Bastian coastal missile system, the agency said.
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