Washington: The United States will unilaterally declare this weekend that United Nations sanctions targeting Iran are once again in force, breaking with almost every other UN Security Council (UNSC) member including long-time allies.
“Virtually all UN sanctions on Iran will come back into place this weekend at 8pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT) on Saturday the 19th,” said Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration’s special representative for Iran.
The move, however, risks increasing Washington’s diplomatic isolation while also stoking international tensions in the lead-up to the highly anticipated US election in November.
Thirteen of the 15 UNSC members, including Britain, France and Germany, say Washington’s move is void and diplomats believe few countries are likely to reimpose the measures, which were lifted under a 2015 deal between world powers and Iran.
The standoff started in mid-August when US President Donald Trump’s administration suffered a resounding defeat at the UN Security Council after it tried to extend an embargo on conventional weapons being sent to Tehran.
Imposed in 2007, the embargo is due to expire on October 18, as agreed under the nuclear deal among Iran, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France and the United States that seeks to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.
Following the failure last month to extend the arms embargo at the UNSC, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unusually strong attack on allies France, Britain and Germany, accusing them of “siding with Iran’s ayatollahs”. On August 20, he announced a controversial move known as a “snapback”, which aims to re-establish all sanctions against Iran a month later.
The sanctions were lifted in 2015 when Iran signed on to the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
