Iran vows ‘crushing response to US bullying’ after sanctions announcement
Posted 4 years ago
by prinzemhud
Iran’s
President Hassan Rouhani has said the US “faces defeat” in its move to
reimpose UN sanctions on the country as European allies called the
unilateral declaration legally void.
In a televised speech, Mr Rouhani said Iran would “give a crushing response to America’s bullying”.
The Trump administration said the measures were being reimposed under the mechanism of a deal the US has quit.
The UK, France and Germany said the US had no power to carry out such a move.
The
three countries – alongside China, Russia and the US – were parties of a
landmark deal signed with Iran in 2015 to curb its nuclear programme.
But President Donald Trump, a critic of the Obama-era accord, withdrew the US from it in 2018.
As a result, Iran began breaching some commitments it had made, including enriching more uranium than it should.
The
US said the country should be punished, declaring that all UN sanctions
that had been suspended would be reimposed – a mechanism agreed in the
deal called “snapback” – and that a conventional arms embargo on Iran
would no longer expire on 18 October.
But
Washington’s announcement has been dismissed by virtually every member
of the UN Security Council, and the body has not taken the measure any
further. The impact of the decision remains unclear.
On
Sunday, an unnamed senior US official quoted by Reuters said that from
Monday, Washington would impose sanctions on more than two dozen people
and entities involved in the Iranian nuclear, missile and conventional
arms programmes.
How has Iran reacted?
In
his speech, Mr Rouhani added: “America is approaching a certain defeat
in its sanctions move… It faced defeat and a negative response from the
international community.”
Earlier,
Iran’s foreign ministry described the US efforts as “futile”, saying
that the “US approach is a major threat to the international peace and
security and an unprecedented threat to the UN and the Security
Council”.
“Iran
emphasizes that if the US, directly or with the co-operation of a
number of its allies, makes any move in line with these threats, it will
face a serious reaction and should account for all its dangerous
consequences,” it said in a statement, without elaborating.
How has the world reacted?
The
UK and France, two permanent members of the UN Security Council, as
well as Germany, said Washington’s announcement was “incapable of having
any legal effect” as the US used a mechanism of the deal that it had
abandoned.
“It
flows from this that any decisions and actions which would be taken
based on this procedure or on its possible outcome would also be
incapable of having any legal effect,” they said in a joint statement.
“We have worked tirelessly to preserve the nuclear agreement and remain
committed to do so.”
The
foreign ministry in Russia, another permanent member of the Security
Council, said: “The illegitimate initiatives and actions of the United
States by definition cannot have international legal consequences for
other countries.”
On
Saturday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security
Council he could not take any action because “there would appear to be
uncertainty” on the issue. But US officials argue that, despite having
abandoned the agreement, they still have the right to trigger the
“snapback” clause.
The
announcement was made 30 days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
notified the council that the administration was triggering the
mechanism.
In
a statement late on Saturday, Mr Pompeo said measures would be
announced in the coming days against countries not enforcing the
sanctions, without giving details.
After
abandoning the deal, the US unilaterally reinstated sanctions on Iran
which, combined with a drop in oil prices, have crippled the economy in
the country, which has also been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The
announcement comes around six weeks before the US presidential
election. Mr Trump faces Democratic rival Joe Biden who has pledged to
bring the US back to the deal.
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