Attempts by Washington to restore UN sanctions against Tehran have failed, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday.
The US secretary of state said Sunday that the UN sanctions against Iran are back in effect. The organization itself does not agree with this. At the same time, countries that will not comply with the “obligations” to implement the sanctions, Pompeo threatened “consequences” in the coming days with the help of unilateral US actions.
“Today is a memorable day in the history of our diplomacy. The United States, being a country that pushes (its interests) by force, has made serious efforts for about 2.5 years to restore UN sanctions against the Iranian nation – a process that has come to its inevitable collapse in recent months”, -Rouhani said on Iranian television.
According to him, since withdrawing from the nuclear deal, the United States tried to unite the world in a “coalition against Iran”, pulling the European Union over to its side, as well as provoking Tehran into such actions that Washington could use to restore international sanctions against Iran.
“Fortunately, during this period, absolutely at all stages, the United States faced failure and a negative reaction from the international community, even from its traditional allies”, – the Iranian president said.
According to Rouhani, US attempts to exert maximum pressure on Iran led to maximum isolation of Washington.
The Iranian President also noted that the United States has always considered the UN Security Council “its strength”, not counting on “failure” there. However, it turned out the other way around – he recalled that the UN Security Council members did not recognize Washington’s demand to restore sanctions against Tehran, thanking the organization for opposing the “illegal US demands”, singling out Russia and China because of their support.
Rouhani pointed to Tehran’s readiness to respond to Washington’s “banditry” against the Iranian people and reminded members of the nuclear deal that Iran would return to full implementation as soon as its participants did the same.
Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, contains a mechanism for the automatic renewal of UN sanctions against Iran if the country does not fulfill its obligations under the JCPOA. This mechanism has been operating for 10 years since 2015. The resolution assumes that if during this period any serious violations by Iran are revealed, the country will be able to avoid sanctions only if the relevant UN Security Council resolution is adopted. If at least one of its permanent members speaks out against it, the sanctions will automatically be renewed within 30 days from the moment the Security Council is notified.
Iran and the six international negotiators in July 2015 reached a historic agreement to resolve the longstanding problem of the Iranian atom. The months-long negotiations ended with the adoption of the JCPOA, the implementation of which completely removes the previously imposed economic and financial sanctions from Iran by the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union.