Published 11:39 IST, September 20th 2020
Iran's Foreign Minister urges world to oppose US sanctions or expect the same
Iran urged the global community to oppose the “bullying” nature of the United States through arbitrary sanctions or expect to face similar sanctions in future.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged the global community to oppose the “bullying” nature of the United States through arbitrary sanctions or expect to face similar sanctions in future. US President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order which will allow his administration to impose sanctions on any country “violating” the arms embargo on Iran. The US intensified its efforts to trigger “snapback” of all sanctions under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) as the arms embargo is set to expire in October.
“The Americans, as a rule, act like a bully and impose sanction...the world community should decide how to act towards bullying,” Zarif told Iranian state television.
The Iranian foreign minister claimed that Tehran will be able to fulfil its weapon requirements with the help of strategic partners like Russia and China. He said that Iran will not only be self-sufficient on weapons front but will also be able to export it. Zarif, however, added that Iran can procure weapons from its strategic partners and secondary US sanctions will not be an obstacle for them.
“As they (other countries) will face the same thing tomorrow when America takes the same action towards the Nord Stream project, as well as other projects because a bully will continue to act like a bully if he is allowed to do it once,” Zarif said.
Struggle over snapback
The United States has been struggling to return the sanctions as other signatories of the Iran nuclear deal continue to resist and question its legality. The Iran nuclear deal was enshrined in a UNSC resolution which still names the US as a participant and the Trump administration has been arguing on the technicality that Washington could still trigger a snapback.
On September 18, Britain, France, and Germany reportedly sent a letter to the UNSC, saying they need sanctions relief for Iran to preserve the nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, the Trump administration said that all UN sanctions on Iran will be restored and the arms embargo will not expire in mid-October.
Updated 11:38 IST, September 20th 2020