“If we let it expire, you can be sure that what Iran has been doing in the dark, it will do in broad daylight and more,” Hook said.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hook’s comments. However, President Hassan Rouhani described 2020 as Iran’s “most difficult year” on Sunday due to the US economic pressure campaign and the coronavirus pandemic.
Hook made the comments during a visit to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United States’ allied Emirates, as part of a tour of the Middle East. Hook met with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday and planned to meet other officials on Sunday. Hook declined to say where else he would travel on his journey.
Hook spoke to AP journalists in Dubai via video conference as the Abu Dhabi borders remain closed to the other six UAE sheikhs due to the pandemic.
The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapons systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That prevented Iran from replacing its old equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo focused on Iranian arms exports.
If the embargo is lifted, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran would likely try to buy Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 training jets, and T-90 tanks. Tehran may also try to buy Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal defense missile system, the DIA said.
Iran has been overtaken by United States-backed Gulf nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, which have purchased billions of dollars in advanced US weaponry. In response, Tehran turned to the development of ballistic missiles as a deterrent.
“If we play by Iran’s rules, Iran wins,” Hook said. “It is a mafia tactic in which people are intimidated into accepting a certain type of behavior for fear of something much worse.”
