WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) US Special Representative for Iran Brian met with UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg amid a US effort to extend an expiring UN arms embargo against Tehran.
"Hook also met with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi to discuss the IAEA's verification work in Iran and express full support for the Agency's professionalism and objectivity," the release said on Wednesday. "The Iranian regime must comply with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, and Additional Protocol by providing the IAEA with the information and access required under its agreements."
At issue is October's expiration of a 2010 UN arms embargo that has prevented Iran from purchasing advanced weaponry such as fighter jets and warships, with the United States now pressing the Security Council to extend the sanctions indefinitely.
The effort is complicated by President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from a multinational deal drafted by the Obama administration to mothball the Tehran nation's nuclear weapons program - an agreement that includes an end to the UN embargo.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appealed to other nations in the Security Council for an indefinite extension of the sanctions, but received little support from other nations, according to media reports.
