The United States has exercised its rights under Security Council Resolution 2231 and restored United Nations sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo that was due to expire on October 18. President Donald Trump also issued an executive order imposing new sanctions and export controls on more than a dozen entities and individuals that support Iran’s nuclear, missile, and conventional arms-related activities.
At a press briefing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the President’s executive order “a new and powerful tool to enforce the UN arms embargo and hold those who seek to evade UN sanctions accountable:”
“Our actions today are a warning that should be heard worldwide. No matter who you are, if you violate the UN arms embargo on Iran, you risk sanctions.”
U.S. Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft pointed out that the United States took these recent steps after the Security Council failed to extend the arms embargo on Iran:
“As I have said repeatedly, when it fails we will not. False hope on the part of the Security Council members that the JCPOA [Iran nuclear deal] might contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions do not excuse members from their obligations to reimpose sanctions pursuant to the process outlined in Resolution 2231. It is now our expectation that all UN member states will fulfill their legal obligation and reimpose sanctions on Iran.”
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien noted that the ability of the United States to snapback UN sanctions on Iran if the regime failed to live up to its commitments was key to the United States’ approval of the JCPOA in 2015:
“The Iranian regime has repeatedly lied about its nuclear weapons program, its archive, and denied required access to international inspectors. Today’s actions send a clear message to the Iranian regime that such conduct will not be tolerated. The United States is also sending an unmistakable message to the international community: those who appease and enable Iran that they must at long last turn away from Iran’s malign activities.”
“Rather than waste resources chasing after a nuclear bomb or regional hegemony, the Iranian regime should provide the Iranian people with what they want and with what they deserve, a thriving and prosperous Iran,” said National Security Advisor O’Brien. “The President has made it clear that if Iran is willing to choose the path of peace, America will walk beside it.
