Blow to US as UN Security Council rejects demand to ‘snap back’ Iran sanctions
- The Trump administration accuses Tehran of failing to comply with the terms of the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal
- It has demanded the Security Council reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic
The president of the UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s demand to restore all UN sanctions on Iran, a move that drew an angry rebuke from the US ambassador who accused opponents of supporting “terrorists”.
Indonesia’s ambassador to the UN, Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country currently holds the rotating council presidency, made the announcement in response to requests from Russia and China to disclose results of his polling of the views of all 15 council members on the US action.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted last Thursday that the United States has the legal right to “snap back” UN sanctions, even though President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers that was endorsed by the UN Security Council.
All the council members, except the Dominican Republic, had informed the council president that the US administration’s action was illegal because Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2018.
Djani told members at the end of a virtual meeting on the Middle East on Tuesday that there was no general agreement among council members.