Pompeo awaiting Iran sanctions snapback in his ‘alternate parallel universe’

Iran chides the US secretary of state for insisting that the UN Security Council’s sanctions against the Islamic Republic will return in September as desired by Washington, although the odds are obviously stacked against the United States.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh mocked Mike Pompeo’s intransigence in a tweet on Thursday after the US top diplomat alleged that the coercive measures will automatically “return on September 20.”

13 members, incl. President of UNSC have declared that America has NO legal standing in the first place to recourse to 2231, as it's not a JCPOA participant.

The clock is ticking just in Pompeo's
parallel alternate universe! This happens when an ex-spymaster leads US diplomacy. pic.twitter.com/k7LlHTT33t

— Saeed Khatibzadeh (@SKhatibzadeh) August 27, 2020

The bans would be reinstated if the UNSC were not to be presented with a resolution to waive the sanctions, Pompeo said, adding that even if a Security Council member chose to forward such a resolution, Washington would use its veto power to strike it down.

Khatibzadeh said that since last week, when Pompeo “notified” the UN secretariat that the US was launching a bid to have the sanctions restored, Washington has been snubbed by the overwhelming majority of the Security Council’s membership, namely 13 countries.

Pompeo claims Iran sanctions to return on Sep. 20, will EU follow suit?

The US claims that the UN sanctions against Iran will return in September, although, it recently failed at the UNSC to have the bans returned.

China has said Pompeo’s letter to the secretariat did not qualify as a “notification.” This, Beijing noted, was because the US had lost the right to have the sanctions restored as it has left the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that includes the “snapback” mechanism Washington is trying to invoke.

Washington’s main European allies -- the UK, France, and Germany -- also said the campaign runs counter to efforts to preserve the nuclear agreement that is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran and the nuclear agreement’s remaining signatories have also reminded the US that by leaving the deal, Washington has, by extension, lost all of its rights to seek recourse to UNSC Resolution 2231 that endorses the JCPOA.

“The clock is ticking just in Pompeo's parallel alternate universe!” Khatibzadeh added, suggesting that the US secretary of state was acting upon non-existent reality.

“This happens when an ex-spymaster leads US diplomacy,” the Iranian official added, referring to Pompeo’s tenure as a CIA chief between 2017 and 2018.