UN Sanctions Against Iran to Be Reimposed Following Security Council Vote
New York – UN sanctions against Iran are set to be reimposed as of 8 PM in New York on Saturday (00:00 GMT on Sunday), following a vote at the United Nations Security Council. The move comes despite efforts by Russia and China to delay the restoration of the restrictions.
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – collectively known as the E3 – have accused tehran of violating the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.The United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 under the Trump management.
Iran maintains it is indeed not pursuing nuclear weapons, asserting its right to peacefully pursue nuclear energy. The JCPOA originally lifted sanctions in exchange for limitations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the impending reimposition of sanctions as “legally void” on Friday, addressing the UN Security Council. He stated that the E3’s pursuit of “snapback” is “legally void, politically reckless and procedurally flawed.” Araghchi further accused the US of “betraying diplomacy” and the E3 of “burying it,” claiming they were ”actively and intently paving the way for a dangerous escalation” by misrepresenting Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and blocking diplomatic efforts.
Russia’s deputy UN envoy, Dmitry Polyanskiy, argued before the vote that Iran had made sufficient accommodations to European powers, but that Western nations were unwilling to compromise. This claim was refuted by Jerome Bonnafont, France’s permanent representative to the UN in New York, who asserted that Iran had not taken meaningful steps to avoid the renewal of sanctions.
Bonnafont did, however, emphasize the importance of continued diplomacy, suggesting a negotiated settlement could still be reached in the future.
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN, indicated that further negotiations appear unlikely.”It doesn’t look like there is going to be further negotiation,” he said, noting that Iran’s Supreme Leader had already anticipated the outcome. “I don’t think there is much more effort going into this now in terms of negotiation.”
The reinstated sanctions will be added to the existing, stringent Western sanctions already in place against Iran, effectively restoring all international UN sanctions that were lifted prior to 2015.
Regional tensions were heightened earlier this year, with Israel launching a 12-day conflict involving strikes on several Iranian nuclear facilities in June. This action followed a ruling by the UN’s nuclear watchdog board that Iran was not adhering to international nuclear safeguards.
Last week,the UNSC rejected a resolution to permanently lift economic sanctions on Iran,a decision Tehran labeled as “politically biased.”
