US Retains No Right under UNSC Res. 2231 to Extend Arms Ban on Iran: Russia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations rejected recent remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington retains the right to extend Iran’s arms embargo under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.
“US officials claim that US retains the rights under UNSC resolution 2231. No single word about US obligations which come together with rights. In particular, what about refraining from ‘actions that undermine implementation of commitments under #JCPOA’ (paragraph 2 of res.2231)?” Mikhail Ulyanov said in a tweet on Friday.
It came after Pompeo earlier in the day claimed in a Twitter exchange with Senator Elizabeth Warren that the US retained the power to extend the ban on arms sales to Iran under the resolution, despite quitting the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018.
“@SenWarren, you should review the law again — our rights under UNSCR 2231 are separate from the JCPOA. But I’ll put you down for Chinese arms sales to Iran on October 18. Which weapons is it okay with you if they send? A couple of divisions of VT-4 tanks good?” Pompeo wrote.
He also ignored Warren's remark that according to the resolution, the US, as well as other parties to the deal, can only resolve disputes and file complaints about a party's non-compliance through the mechanisms of the JCPOA. In her tweet, Warren argued that by abandoning the JCPOA and thereby depriving the US of the right to file complaints, Trump and his administration had made the country "less safe".
“Actually, paragraph 10 of UNSCR 2231 encourages the US to resolve disputes *through the Iran nuclear deal* – the same one you withdrew from, limiting our options and making us less safe. Nice try, @SecPompeo. But can I put you down for reentering,” Warren wrote.
