UN Chief Says Up To Security Council To Act On Iran Sanctions Resolution

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday it is up to the UN Security Council to interpret its resolution on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, following the US threats to snapback all sanctions on Iran

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2020) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday it is up to the UN Security Council to interpret its resolution on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, following the US threats to snapback all sanctions on Iran.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would re-impose sanctions on Iran in the United Nations next week to make the arms embargo against the Islamic Republic permanent.

"It is the Security Council... that is able to do the interpretation of the Security Council resolutions, and we will act in line with what the Security Council does," Guterres told reporters.

On August 20, Pompeo sent a letter to the UN Security Council, requesting that the nuclear agreement's snapback sanctions mechanism be invoked.

The majority of the UN Security Council members, including Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have said they would not support the United States' decision to re-impose sanctions against Iran since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.

The JCPOA, signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, stipulates the removal of international sanctions from Tehran in exchange for scaling down its nuclear program. The deal was then enshrined in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which includes the provision on the five-year arms embargo.