UNSC: No position to advance Iran sanctions snapback

WASHINGTON

UN Security Council President Triansyah Djani said Tuesday he is not in a position to advance the US push to snap back international sanctions on Iran.

He cited a lack of consensus within the body on the US' standing to do so.

"It is clear for me that there is one member that has a particular position on the issues, while there are significant numbers of members who have contesting views," Djani said after being pressed to comment on the matter by the Russian and Chinese ambassadors during a virtual council meeting.

"In my view there is no consensus in the council, thus the president is not in the position to take further action," he added.

The comments come less than a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to New York to personally deliver letters to Djani and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to formally invoke the process to re-impose UN sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal world powers struck with Iran that is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The notifications he delivered were intended to start a 30-day countdown for the sanctions' reimposition, even as the move faced widespread opposition within and beyond the Security Council.

The nuclear accord's participants -- China, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the UK -- dispute the US's standing to trigger the snapback mechanism because of US President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally exit the agreement in May 2018.

Gunter Sautter, Germany's deputy envoy to the UN, welcomed Djani's finding and slammed what he said was the "purported notification" delivered by Pompeo, calling it "in legal terms, null and void."

"The United States is no longer a JCPOA participant and therefore the United States cannot activate the snap back mechanism," he said. "Any decision and action, which would be taken based on this procedure or on its possible outcome would also be devoid of any legal effect."

Earlier in August, the US attempted to pass a resolution in the body that would have extended a UN arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire Oct. 18 under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The push received only the support of the US and one other nation, Dominican Republic, in the 15 member international body. All other nations either abstained of voted in opposition as the US then moved to reimpose sanctions, which would have also extended the embargo.

Speaking during Tuesday's virtual council session, US envoy Kelly Craft said "it is Russia and China that revel in this council's dysfunction and failure."

"It is Iran who celebrates its newfound leverage over the free nations of the world," she said. "I only regret that other members of this council have lost their way, and now find themselves standing in the company of terrorists."