Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says US demand for Iran sanctions is ‘completely unreasonable’
- Washington has called on the UN Security Council to reimpose sanctions on Iran for violating nuclear agreement
- Beijing criticises request, saying US quit international agreement two years ago
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out at the US on Friday for its “completely unreasonable” demand to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
On Thursday, the US formally asked the UN to trigger the “snapback”, a mechanism under the 2015 nuclear accord that allows a participant to restore pre-2015 sanctions on Iran, on the grounds that Tehran has significantly violated the agreement.
But Wang told a press conference after a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in southern China that the US request was “absurd”. He argued that it was totally unreasonable for the US to withdraw from the agreement in 2018 and then try to initiate the mechanism now.
“It’s not only ignoring international law, but asking others to ignore it too. And it’s even threatening to sanction those law-abiding countries,” he said, “where does this absurd logic come from?”
Britain, France and Germany also oppose Washington’s actions and have argued that it has no legal right to do so. A joint statement on Friday said the three European countries hope to preserve the 2015 deal, which includes the lifting of all international sanctions against Iran.
Wang criticised the US for failing to fulfil its international responsibilities when unilaterally withdrawing from the agreement in 2018.