Israel has called on the United Nations to restore the sanctions regime against Iran, after the US invoked its position as signatory of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to reimpose weapons sanctions on Tehran.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, penned a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, calling on the UN to restore the arms sanction regime against Iran to ensure compliance with the ban on weapons sales to the Islamic republic.
“Iran has openly violated the nuclear deal and revealed its plans to obtain nuclear weapons,” wrote Erdan. “Thus, in keeping with the provision for ‘snapback’ sanctions included in the deal and activated by the United States, sanctions have been restored, and the UN Secretary-General is obliged to act in keeping with decisions of the UN Security Council.”
“In recent years, Iran has proven to be the number one supporter of terrorism worldwide, and that it is involved wherever there is murder and bloodshed and thus Iran constitutes a danger to the stability and security of the entire Middle East.”
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US has reimposed the ban on arms sales to Iran, citing the snapback provision in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, of which the US was a signatory.
The JCPOA, which offered to lift the conventional arms ban on Iran in exchange for Iranian concessions on its nuclear program, provides for the ability to ‘snapback’ the sanctions should Iran violate the deal.
While the US withdrew from the deal in 2018, on Saturday, the US cited its position as a signatory of the deal to activate the snapback provision of the JCPOA
The United Nations and European signatories, however, have largely ignored the move, and are not expected to recognize it.
"The United States expects all UN Member States to fully comply with their obligations to implement these measures. In addition to the arms embargo, this includes restrictions such as the ban on Iran engaging in enrichment and reprocessing-related activities, the prohibition on ballistic missile testing and development by Iran, and sanctions on the transfer of nuclear- and missile-related technologies to Iran, among others. If UN Member States fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity," Pompeo said in a statement.