UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2020) France will not support the United States' efforts to unilaterally trigger an extension of the UN arms embargo on Iran, French Ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere said on Tuesday.
"We firmly believe that any unilateral attempt to trigger UN sanctions snapback would have serious adverse consequences in the UN Security Council. We will not support such a decision, which would be incompatible with our current efforts to preserve the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]," de Riviere said, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
De Reviere pointed out that such a unilateral move will not only deepen divisions in the UN Security Council, but will not contribute to improving the situation in the region nor efforts to achieve nuclear non-proliferation.
The ambassador said France intends to work with all members of the UN Security Council and the remaining JCPOA participants on options to address common concerns.
In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The agreement required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting of the UN arms embargo five years after the nuclear agreement is adopted.
In 2018, the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and implemented wide-ranging sanctions against Iran.
Last week, the United States proposed extending the UN Security Council resolution that imposes an arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire on October 18.
