President @realDonaldTrump says, “As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump’s administration wants to trigger the snapback mechanism in the the Iran nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
However, Niger, the U.N. Security Council president for September, said on Tuesday it stands by a declaration that no further action can be taken on a U.S. bid to trigger a return of U.N. sanctions on Iran because there is no consensus in the 15-member body.
“We’re staying with this decision… that was stated and announced by the president of the Security Council last month,” said Niger U.N. Ambassador Abdou Abarry, ruling out any move to put forward a draft resolution under the snapback process to extend sanctions relief for Iran.
Indonesia U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, the council president for August, had said he was “not in the position to take further action” because 13 council members had expressed their opposition.
Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had formally notified the UN that it wants all sanctions on Iran restored, claiming Iranian violation of the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Washington withdrew in 2018.
Trump’s administration insists that the U.S. has the legal right to “snap back” sanctions (under UN) even though President Trump pulled out of the deal endorsed by the Security Council Resolution 2231.
Earlier, France, the UK, and Germany – three signatories to the JCPOA – released a joint statement telling the U.S. that it could not use “snapback” measures against Iran as it is no longer part of the nuclear deal.
“France, Germany, and the United Kingdom note that the U.S. ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal from the deal on May 8, 2018,” the statement said. “We cannot, therefore, support this action which is incompatible with our current efforts to support the JCPOA.”
In response, Pompeo on Thursday accused the three European countries of “siding with the ayatollahs”, claiming that “their actions endanger the people of Iraq, of Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and indeed their own citizens as well.”
The Joint Commission of the JCPOA is expected to meet in Vienna on September 1, says a report.
“The Joint Commission will be chaired on behalf of EU High Representative Josep Borrell by EEAS Secretary General Helga Schmid and will be attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and Iran, it added, citing EU’s official website.
Reuters in its latest report quotes Abarry as saying, “Any other member state of the Security Council can do it (table draft resolution). The United States themselves can do it.”
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