Russia has rejected the misleading assertions made by the United States on the return of the previously terminated UN Security Council sanctions on Iran and warned that the illegitimate actions by the US cannot have any effect in terms of international law on other countries or bind them to curtail their legal cooperation with Iran.
“The United States continues to mislead the international community by speculating that the UN Security Council has completed procedures to restore the UN Security Council sanctions resolutions on Iran that were terminated after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme (JCPOA) in 2015”, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued by Russian Embassy in Canberra on Tuesday.
The statement reads that United States certainly understands that its assertions are at odds with reality. It is for this reason that the US threatens all the dissenting voices with sanctions and other penalties, just as it always does. It seems that the US foreign policy has run out of any other arguments.
“UN Security Council has not taken any action to reinstate the foregone sanctions on Iran. Washington’s moves boil down to dramatic posturing for the sake of subjecting the Security Council to its maximum pressure campaign on Iran and turning this respected institution into a tool at its disposal. This did not work” it further said.
Russian Foreign Ministry reminded that back in August, an overwhelming majority of UN Security Council members stated their position clearly. They pointed out that the US aspirations were null and void from both the legal and procedural perspectives. In particular, they noted that the letter from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dated August 20, on which Washington relies, cannot be viewed as a “notification” within the meaning of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to launch the process leading to the restoration of the previous sanctions. The open debate on August 25 led to the conclusion that the Security Council was not in a position to take further action based on the US application. The council reaffirmed this position in September. Russia fully shares this view.
Terming the US claim that the provisions of the resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have now been reinstated as wishful thinking, foreign ministry hoped that US authorities will have the courage to finally look the truth in the eye and stop speaking on behalf of the UN Security Council. The illegitimate actions by the US cannot have any effect in terms of international law on other countries or bind them to curtail their legal cooperation with Iran.
Efforts to preserve and ensure a steady implementation of the JCPOA will carry on. The UN Security Council Resolution 2231 remains in force, unaltered, and the commitments arising from it have to be fulfilled as originally agreed by all states based on the principle of reciprocity.
“Instead of aggravating the situation, the United States should immediately renounce its course to dismantle the JCPOA and undermine UN Security Council Resolution 2231”, statement concluded.
