Washington to Argue It Never Left JCPOA
WASHINGTON (Kayhan Intl.) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reportedly laying the groundwork to present a "legal” argument to the United Nations that the U.S. remains a "participant state” in the Obama-era Iran nuclear accord that President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of in May 2018.
Pompeo’s reported move is "part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran,” according to an article in the New York Times.
The Times explained that at a moment when both Russia and China have expressed interest in restarting conventional arms sales to Iran, the U.S. will try to reactivate UN sanctions on Iran in the event the UN Security Council does not extend the arms embargo.
Critics were quick to point out the various times Pompeo and other administration officials, including U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, had publicly stated the U.S. had exited the deal.
European diplomats who have learned of the plan maintain that Trump and Pompeo are selectively choosing whether they are still in the agreement to fit their agenda.
The entire drama could play out this autumn in the weeks before the presidential election, setting up a potential confrontation with Iran in the midst of the contest.
Asked about the deceptive plan, Pompeo said in a statement to The New York Times: "We cannot allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to purchase conventional weapons in six months. President Obama should never have agreed to end the UN arms embargo.”
"We are prepared to exercise all of our diplomatic options to ensure the arms embargo stays in place at the UN Security Council,” he added.
A draft of the American resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely has been shared with some members of the Security Council by Brian H. Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, who is carrying out the new strategy.
In trips to New York and Paris, he has described the administration’s insistence that Tehran never receive even small conventional arms, much less missiles.
The arms embargo at the center of the dispute was something of a sideshow to the main nuclear agreement. The agreement covers only Iran’s nuclear activity: It required Iran to ship about 97 percent of its nuclear fuel out of the country — moved to Russia, in early 2016 — and to observe sharp limits on its production of nuclear material for 15 years.
Iran abided by those limits for a year after Trump pulled out of the agreement. But since last summer, it has gradually violated the limitations on both how much nuclear fuel it is allowed to stockpile and the level to which it can enrich its fuel. Iran insists it would return to the agreed-upon levels as soon as Trump came back into compliance with the agreement by lifting unilateral sanctions.
The arms embargo — along with limits on missile launches — was part of a United Nations Security Council resolution that enshrined the nuclear accord, and suspended years of UN-imposed sanctions.
That is what begins to expire in October.
Wendy R. Sherman, who served as the negotiation team leader of the Iran accord during the Obama administration and now directs the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard, recalled that the Russians and Chinese never wanted a conventional arms embargo on Iran, and only agreed to one of limited duration.
In an interview, Sherman predicted that if the United States argues that it remains a participant in the agreement for the purposes of dismantling the accord, "I think they will get tremendous pushback, because the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement.” She predicted that any move to impose the snapback provisions "will be strongly resisted, and should be.” But she added, "That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t succeed.”
Under Pompeo’s plan, an American-drafted resolution, which has already been given to the Europeans, the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, would propose extending the conventional arms embargo, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times.
The American draft says that "Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer, directly or indirectly, from its territory, by its nationals or using its flag vessels or aircraft, any arms or related material, and that all member states shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran by their nationals, or using their flagged vessels or aircraft, and whether or not originating in the territory of Iran.”
Russia, the U.S. expects, would veto the resolution in the Security Council.
In response, the United States would then attempt to declare that it remains a participant state in the agreement, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite Trump’s declaration that he was abandoning it.
Relying on a legal opinion developed by lawyers within Pompeo’s department, the United States would dispute the arguments of the other signatories that Trump gave up all rights to invoke the snapback when he declared that the United States was reimposing its own sanctions on Iran, despite Washington’s obligations under the agreement.
A senior European diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the strategy as pushing the words of the agreement far beyond their logical context.
The strategy brings to mind Pompeo’s uncharacteristically candid admission at Texas A&M University on April 15, 2019 that as the CIA director, "We lied, we cheated, we stole.”
Reacting to the report, Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Zarif called on the U.S. secretary of state on Monday to "stop dreaming”.
"2 yrs ago, @SecPompeo and his boss declared ‘CEASING US participation’ in JCPOA, dreaming that their ‘max pressure’ would bring Iran to its knees. Given that policy’s abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant,” Zarif tweeted.
"Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny,” he added.
Pompeo’s reported move is "part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran,” according to an article in the New York Times.
The Times explained that at a moment when both Russia and China have expressed interest in restarting conventional arms sales to Iran, the U.S. will try to reactivate UN sanctions on Iran in the event the UN Security Council does not extend the arms embargo.
Critics were quick to point out the various times Pompeo and other administration officials, including U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, had publicly stated the U.S. had exited the deal.
European diplomats who have learned of the plan maintain that Trump and Pompeo are selectively choosing whether they are still in the agreement to fit their agenda.
The entire drama could play out this autumn in the weeks before the presidential election, setting up a potential confrontation with Iran in the midst of the contest.
Asked about the deceptive plan, Pompeo said in a statement to The New York Times: "We cannot allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to purchase conventional weapons in six months. President Obama should never have agreed to end the UN arms embargo.”
"We are prepared to exercise all of our diplomatic options to ensure the arms embargo stays in place at the UN Security Council,” he added.
A draft of the American resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely has been shared with some members of the Security Council by Brian H. Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, who is carrying out the new strategy.
In trips to New York and Paris, he has described the administration’s insistence that Tehran never receive even small conventional arms, much less missiles.
The arms embargo at the center of the dispute was something of a sideshow to the main nuclear agreement. The agreement covers only Iran’s nuclear activity: It required Iran to ship about 97 percent of its nuclear fuel out of the country — moved to Russia, in early 2016 — and to observe sharp limits on its production of nuclear material for 15 years.
Iran abided by those limits for a year after Trump pulled out of the agreement. But since last summer, it has gradually violated the limitations on both how much nuclear fuel it is allowed to stockpile and the level to which it can enrich its fuel. Iran insists it would return to the agreed-upon levels as soon as Trump came back into compliance with the agreement by lifting unilateral sanctions.
The arms embargo — along with limits on missile launches — was part of a United Nations Security Council resolution that enshrined the nuclear accord, and suspended years of UN-imposed sanctions.
That is what begins to expire in October.
Wendy R. Sherman, who served as the negotiation team leader of the Iran accord during the Obama administration and now directs the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard, recalled that the Russians and Chinese never wanted a conventional arms embargo on Iran, and only agreed to one of limited duration.
In an interview, Sherman predicted that if the United States argues that it remains a participant in the agreement for the purposes of dismantling the accord, "I think they will get tremendous pushback, because the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement.” She predicted that any move to impose the snapback provisions "will be strongly resisted, and should be.” But she added, "That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t succeed.”
Under Pompeo’s plan, an American-drafted resolution, which has already been given to the Europeans, the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, would propose extending the conventional arms embargo, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times.
The American draft says that "Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer, directly or indirectly, from its territory, by its nationals or using its flag vessels or aircraft, any arms or related material, and that all member states shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran by their nationals, or using their flagged vessels or aircraft, and whether or not originating in the territory of Iran.”
Russia, the U.S. expects, would veto the resolution in the Security Council.
In response, the United States would then attempt to declare that it remains a participant state in the agreement, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite Trump’s declaration that he was abandoning it.
Relying on a legal opinion developed by lawyers within Pompeo’s department, the United States would dispute the arguments of the other signatories that Trump gave up all rights to invoke the snapback when he declared that the United States was reimposing its own sanctions on Iran, despite Washington’s obligations under the agreement.
A senior European diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the strategy as pushing the words of the agreement far beyond their logical context.
The strategy brings to mind Pompeo’s uncharacteristically candid admission at Texas A&M University on April 15, 2019 that as the CIA director, "We lied, we cheated, we stole.”
Reacting to the report, Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Zarif called on the U.S. secretary of state on Monday to "stop dreaming”.
"2 yrs ago, @SecPompeo and his boss declared ‘CEASING US participation’ in JCPOA, dreaming that their ‘max pressure’ would bring Iran to its knees. Given that policy’s abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant,” Zarif tweeted.
"Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny,” he added.
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