Mike Pompeo
Mike PompeoReuters

Arthur Stark, Chairman, William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, on Monday welcomed the continuity of the arms embargo against Iran through new US sanctions.

"We welcome the new US sanctions against Iran announced today that target the Iranian military and other entities involved with the regime's nuclear program, which it maintains in defiance of signed commitments and promises. The international community must not ignore the clear, present, and proven danger of Iran, which is set on extending its control and imposing its radical ideology at all costs,” they said in a statement.

“The rogue Iranian regime continues to violate agreements forsaking its nuclear ambitions; it has a clearly established history of violating its commitments from the moment they are made. With these new sanctions in place, the US maximum pressure campaign is intensified and the critical arms embargo on Iran, that was due to expire in a matter of days, is sustained. Without the arms embargo, a regime that openly calls for America's downfall and the genocide of the Jewish people through the annihilation of Israel would be able to amass additional weapons for its own use and to supply its terrorist proxies. Iran cannot be allowed to become a greater threat to the stability and security of the Middle East and the entire world,” continued Stark and Hoenlein.

“Before the current regime took control of the country and its citizens in 1979, Iran was not the pariah state that it is today. The people of Iran, a proud nation with a rich heritage, do not share the desire for regional hegemony that is relentlessly pursued by their rulers. They seek instead reentry into the international community, which would welcome them back with open arms if only the Iranian regime would forgo its quest to sow chaos and destruction. The Ayatollah should heed the undeniable signs of a new paradigm in the Middle East, where peace is chosen over conflict, and consider a different path for Iran and its people," the statement concluded.

Earlier on Monday, the Trump administration announced an executive order and new sanctions against Iran aimed at enforcing United Nations sanctions.

“My actions today send a clear message to the Iranian regime and those in the international community who refuse to stand up to Iran,” President Donald Trump said in a statement. “The United States will not allow the Iranian regime to further advance capabilities to directly threaten and terrorize the rest of the world.”

The sanctions put in place a new arms embargo on Iran to replace a UN ban set to expire in October. Administration officials say it is an indefinite ban on weapons sales and allows for sanctions on any international companies or individuals that seek to violate the embargo.

“The president's executive order announced today gives us a new and powerful tool to enforce the UN arms embargo, and hold those who seek to evade U.N. sanctions accountable,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press conference, according to The Hill.

The administration’s sanction package also targeted dozens of entities and individuals connected to Iran’s nuclear weapons programs including s Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, Iran’s Defense Industries Organization and its director, Mehrdad Akhlaghi-Ketabchi, and individuals and entities associated with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

Monday’s move comes a month after Washington started the process of restoring all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. The move to activate the “snapback” came after the UN Security Council rejected the US resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October.

However, the president of the UN Security Council rejected the US demand, saying there was no general agreement among council members.

The "snapback" move is part of a 2015 Security Council resolution which allows any participant in a nuclear accord with Iran negotiated under former President Barack Obama to reimpose sanctions, which would take effect one month afterward.