Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua has called on the international community to oppose the United States' attempt to extend sanctions against Tehran, in his interview with Iranian news agency Tasnim, released on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2020) Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua has called on the international community to oppose the United States' attempt to extend sanctions against Tehran, in his interview with Iranian news agency Tasnim, released on Tuesday.
In June, the United States introduced a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Iran before it expires in mid-October. Russia and China have already voiced their opposition to the document. In response, Tehran warned the UN Security Council in early July that it would completely ruin the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Deal of Action (JCPOA), if it heeded to the US' calls.
"The parties (to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal) should support strengthened dialogue and cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran in order to properly resolve the safeguards issue as soon as possible. At the same time, the international community should jointly oppose the US pushing the Security Council to extend or reinstate sanctions against Iran and urge the US to return to the right track of compliance with the JCPOA and UNSCR," Chang said.
According to the diplomat, over the past several years, Washington has been upholding unilateralism by abandoning its international commitments and withdrawing from multilateral treaties and organizations.
After pulling out from the JCPOA, the US is still attempting to undermine the agreement by pushing for the extension of the Security Council arms embargo against Tehran and "threatening to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions mechanism," Chang said.
"On the Iranian nuclear issue, China's unwavering aim is to maintain the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the middle East and to uphold multilateralism, the authority of the UN, and the international order based on international law ... No matter how the international situation evolves, China will always stand on the right side of history and work with other parties to the JCPOA to continue advancing the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue," the ambassador added.
In 2015, Iran signed the nuclear deal with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and the European Union. The JCPOA stipulates that Iran must scale back its nuclear program and downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including the lifting of the UN arms embargo five years after the accord was adopted.
In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and has since reimplemented wide-ranging sanctions against Iran.
