MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is elaborating a plan for invoking a provision of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to say that the US formally remains a participating nation, and force either an extension of the arms embargo against Iran or reimpose harsher sanctions, the New York Times newspaper reported, citing sources in the US administration.
According to the sources, if the United Nations Security Council declines to extend the arms embargo, which expires this year, the US will claim that it formally remains a JCPOA participating nation despite US President Donald Trump's announcement of withdrawal back in 2018. The US will accuse Iran of violating the deal through producing nuclear fuel in amounts surpassing those envisioned by the agreement. The US is then expected to restore even harsher sanctions on the country.
Russia and China are "almost certain" to oppose the attempts to renew the arms embargo, according to the New York Times.
"We cannot allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to purchase conventional weapons in six months. President Obama should never have agreed to end the U.N. arms embargo. We are prepared to exercise all of our diplomatic options to ensure the arms embargo stays in place at the U.N. Security Council," Pompeo told the newspaper, commenting on the matter.
US State Department's special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, has shared a draft US resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely with some members of the UN Security Council. He has noted that Iran should never receive missiles and even small conventional arms. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, harsher sanctions will not be introduced before the fall.
