- News code: 1471474
Iran's president says the Islamic Republic will never give in to US bullying after the United States claimed it has restored all UN sanctions against Tehran through the so-called snapback mechanism of a landmark nuclear deal clinched in 2015, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Addressing a cabinet session on Sunday, Hassan Rouhani added that the US so-called maximum pressure on the Iranian nation in political and legal sectors has led to Washington's "maximum isolation."
"We have always said that there is only one way of dealing with the Iranian nation and that is to show respect for the rights of the Iranian nation and speak to it with the language of respect," he emphasized.
"As Iran's president, I announce that if the US wants to continue its bullying and take a practical step in line with its incorrect assertion - which has been rejected by all parties - that it has been able to restore [anti-Iran] resolutions [passed by the UN Security Council], he will be faced with our categorical response," Iran's president said.
"It is quite clear that Iran has never yielded to US bullying at any juncture and will stand against the US bullying at this juncture as well," he added.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Saturday that all UN sanctions against Iran were "back in effect" under the “snapback” provision in the JCPOA.
The claim came 30 days after Pompeo notified the UN Security Council (UNSC) of what he called Iran’s “significant non-performance” with its obligations under the JCPOA – from which US President Donald Trump withdrew in May 2018.
Following Pompeo's announcement, the three European signatories to the JCPOA said in a statement that the US claim has no legal effect.
“France, Germany and the United Kingdom (“the E3”) note that the US ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal from the deal on 8 May, 2018. Consequently, the purported notification under paragraph 11 of UNSCR 2231 (2015), received from the United States of America and circulated to the UN Security Council Members, is incapable of having legal effect. It flows from this that any decisions and actions which would be taken based on this procedure or on its possible outcome would also be incapable of having any legal effect,” the statement read.
E3: US claim on snapback sanctions on Iran lacks legal effect
The United Nations secretary-general, for his part, said “uncertainty” prevents him from taking any action on a US declaration that all UN sanctions have been reinstated against Iran.
“There would appear to be uncertainty whether or not the process ... was indeed initiated,” Antonio Guterres said on Saturday in a letter to the UN Security Council that was seen by Reuters.
UN chief says will take no action on US 'snapback' push against Iran
Rouhani further described the US request for the activation of the snapback mechanism as “illegal and incorrect” and said the most majority of the United Nations Security Council members have rejected it.
“From now on, the United States’ words will not be taken for anything but [manifestations of] roguishness, and nobody will cave in, while the consequences of making such remarks and taking such positions will [only] backfire on the US,” he added.
After withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May 2018, the White House imagined that it would, in no time, be able to get the Europeans onboard with its anti-Iran moves and provoke Tehran to take certain measures that would give the Americans “the necessary pretexts to return the Security Council resolutions,” which were terminated by Resolution 2231, Rouhani stated.
Rouhani further emphasized that the US failed in its months-long attempts to form a coalition against Iran on the UNSC stage and block the lifting of a soon-to-expire UN arms embargo against the Islamic Republic.
The president was referring to the UN Security Council’s almost unanimous refusal in mid-August to support a US-sponsored draft resolution on extending the arms embargo against Iran, which is due to expire in October under the JCPOA.
UN Security Council rejects US resolution to extend Iran arms embargo
During the 15-member Security Council vote, the US received support only from the Dominican Republic for its anti-Iran resolution, leaving it far short of the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the president thanked Security Council members for their objection to Washington’s “illegal and irrational” demands in August and September.
He also commended the firm resistance of friendly countries Russia and China against America’s illogical moves at different junctures.
The Iranian chief executive once again reiterated the country’s readiness to reverse the retaliatory measures it has taken in response to the US exit from the JCPOA as soon as Europe fulfills its end of the bargain.
“I once again tell the 4+1 group that if the five remaining countries in the nuclear deal fully comply with the deal and the articles we have committed to under this agreement, Iran will also return to its commitments completely,” Rouhani pointed out.
He noted that Iran has reduced its JCPOA commitments because the remaining parties to the deal “did not give a positive response to us in the economic field,” referring the Europeans’ failure to take practical strikes to offset the sanctions that the US reinstated against Tehran after quitting the deal.
He said the Islamic Republic has always fulfilled its international commitments but it has never accepted to carry the burden of an unbalanced agreement unilaterally.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeid Khatibzadeh said the international community will not buy into Washington’s frenetic attempt to reinstate all United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic, adding that US officials live in “an imaginary world.”
Iran on US histrionics: Sanctions are not back except in Pompeo’s imaginary world
“Nothing has happened, except in Pompeo’s imaginary world. No one buys into this,” he added.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the rage that characterizes Washington’s most recent threats against Iran is rooted in its repeated failures to align the rest of the world with its enmity towards the Islamic Republic.
It added that Pompeo is claiming victory for the anti-Iran drive, while Washington essentially failed to ever launch the “snapback” bid with the UN because it lost the right to do so by leaving the nuclear agreement.
