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USA increases pressure on Berlin over Iran

2020-08-14T01:21:59.235Z


The Trump administration is openly threatening to deliver the death blow to the nuclear deal with Iran. The American UN ambassador also blames Germany for the fact that this could happen. Washington's patience is running out - and the tone is growing rougher.


The Trump administration is openly threatening to deliver the death blow to the nuclear deal with Iran. The American UN ambassador also blames Germany for the fact that this could happen. Washington's patience is running out - and the tone is growing rougher.

New York (AP) - In the dispute over the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, the US government is tightening its tone towards Germany and its European partners.

"For me, hurt feelings about the United States' withdrawal from the nuclear deal are no excuse for arming terrorists," said American UN Ambassador Kelly Craft in an interview with the German press agency. The statements increase the pressure on Berlin in view of an ongoing vote in the UN Security Council. There a decision is made about a US initiative to extend the arms embargo against Iran.

The background to this is the expiry of the current embargo in October. In addition to the USA, Germany, France and Great Britain support its extension in principle - but a number of members of the UN Security Council reject the draft submitted by the Americans, partly because of the unlimited duration of the embargo it stipulates. In the EU, meanwhile, a separate ban on the sale of weapons in Iran applies until 2023.

The US move is seen only as a preliminary skirmish by the Trump administration to completely turn the nuclear deal off its hinges. Because if the draft of the arms embargo fails, so the threat, the Americans could trigger the so-called snapback mechanism: A possibility for the states of the nuclear deal to denounce Iranian violations and thus ultimately the reinstatement of all international sanctions from the time before the agreement achieve - without this being prevented by a veto of other members. According to diplomats, this could mean the final end of the historic agreement of 2015.

"I hope that - before we have to use the snapback to trigger - we can come to some kind of compromise that I can present to the Foreign Minister and the President," said Ambassador Craft and emphasized with regard to Germany, France and Great Britain that there is still scope for negotiations. So far, however, the European member states of the agreement have repeatedly put them off. "I'm running out of patience, to be perfectly honest." If no solution can be found, she will "continue on her own", says Craft.

It is controversial whether the US is entitled to trigger the snapback, because the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018. The Americans, however, believe that it is enough for them to be named as a member state in the UN resolution that translates the nuclear deal into international law.

The UN veto powers USA, China, Russia, France and Great Britain as well as Germany and Iran agreed in 2015 in Vienna on the agreement that allows Tehran the peaceful use of nuclear power, but denies the development of nuclear weapons. It put the Iranian nuclear industry under control and promised to dismantle Western economic sanctions. US President Donald Trump has been against the nuclear deal for years - the snapback should suit him well for his campaign of maximum pressure on Tehran.

The draft resolution on the arms embargo in the Security Council threatens to not get the necessary 9 out of 15 votes even without the possible vetoes from Russia and China. A result should be available in the night of Saturday (CEST) - if it fails, negotiations can continue. The diplomatic dispute in the most powerful UN body could, in the worst case, lead to a split in the Security Council on the question of whether the old sanctions against Iran will apply again or not. Dangerous upheavals could result, which in turn call the sanctions against Syria or North Korea into question.

Ambassador Craft meanwhile campaigned for more support in suppressing Iranian influence in the world: "Iran's fingerprints can be found in all conflicts," be it in Syria, Yemen or Lebanon. "I'm not holding anyone hostage. There is a choice here. You have a choice between supporting terrorism or supporting peace and security."

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200814-99-161479 / 2

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-08-14

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