Iran’s UN envoy: US has no right to trigger snapback mechanism

Iran’s permanent ambassador to the UN says the United States is not eligible to use the Iran nuclear deal’s snapback mechanism to restore sanctions against the country since Washington has formally withdrawn from the multilateral accord.

Addressing a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Monday, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi said the majority of Security Council members transparently reaffirmed their stances against Washington’s push to resort to the so-called snapback provision in the 2015 nuclear deal — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — during a recent session.

The Assembly meeting was held to review the annual report of the Security Council. 

The Iranian official further said the legal arguments presented by Security Council members as well as the conclusion subsequently offered by the Council’s president were unambiguous and rock-solid: the US is in position to initiate anything in the Council.

“Following its withdrawal from the JCPOA, the US is not a “JCPOA participant, and has no right to initiate a process to re-impose the Council's sanctions,” he said, adding that the latest push is and will be void of any legal effect.

During the meeting, Takht-e Ravanchi also called on the Security Council and its members to adhere to their commitments, criticizing the highest UN body for remaining silent on US crimes.

He pointed to the US violations of Iran’s territorial waters and airspace in 2019, saying that “this country continued its adventures against Iran to the extent that regional anti-terrorist heroes, like Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, were assassinated" upon the direct order of  US President Donald Trump in “gross violation of the charter of the United Nations and international law, while the Security Council remained silent.”

He further criticized the US for its earlier attempts to extend the UN arms embargo against Iran in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal.

Last month, 13 countries of the 15-member council rejected the US push to trigger the so-called snapback provision in the 2015 nuclear deal, leaving Washington once again isolated on the issue like never before.

UNSC Resolution 2231, which enshrined the JCPOA, states that if no council member has put forward a draft resolution to extend sanctions relief on Iran within 10 days of a non-compliance complaint, then the body’s president shall do so within the remaining 20 days.

The document, however, says the Security Council would “take into account the views of the states involved.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that all UN sanctions against Iran will be reinstated on September 20 after the US “activated the snapback mechanism.”

However, the claim was strongly condemned by other signatories of the nuclear deal including the EU, Russia and China.

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