Security Council meeting: Berlin, Paris and London opposed Washington’s Iran plans (archive image)
Photo: Ralf Hirschberger / dpaBy triggering the so-called snapback mechanism in the UN Security Council, the US government wants to force a return to far-reaching sanctions against Iran. The body has now blocked the US push for the time being. The Indonesian Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country currently holds the Council Presidency, said in New York on Tuesday that he was "unable" to pursue the US initiative. The main reason he cited in a video conference of the Council was the lack of consensus in the body on the UN move.
13 of the 15 member states of the Security Council had previously spoken out against the US initiative in a letter to the Indonesian presidency. This was only supported by the Dominican Republic. The US government wants to reinstate sanctions against Iran from the time before the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. However, the opponents of the move argue that the US is not authorized to do so because it unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in May 2018.
The US government countered that it was entitled to the initiative because the United States was involved in the 2015 UN resolution on the nuclear agreement. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo applied to the Security Council on Thursday to activate the so-called snapback mechanism to reinstate the punitive measures. He justified this with "significant" Iranian violations of the nuclear agreement, which is supposed to prevent Iran from building the atomic bomb.
Following Pompeo's request, the governments of Germany, France and Great Britain declared that the USA was not authorized to do this. Pompeo accused the European states of having "sided with the Ayatollahs".
Like the USA, France and Great Britain are permanent members of the Security Council; Germany is currently a temporary member there. The three European countries are among the signatory states to the nuclear agreement with Iran.
The administration of US President Donald Trump started the initiative to activate the snapback mechanism after it failed in the Security Council with a draft resolution for an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran. This expires in October.
Icon: The mirrorasc / dpa / AFP