UNSC rejects US bid to extend Iran arms embargo
The United Nations Security Council has resoundingly rejected a bid by the United States to extend a global arms embargo on Iran.
In the Security Council vote on Friday, Washington got support only from the Dominican Republic for its resolution to indefinitely extend the embargo, leaving it far short of the minimum nine "yes" votes required for adoption.
Eleven members on the 15-member body, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, abstained, reports Al Jazeera.
Russia and China strongly opposed extending the 13-year ban, which was due to expire on October 18 under a 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers.
Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, announced the defeat of the resolution ahead of a very brief virtual council meeting to reveal the vote.
"The Security Council's failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is inexcusable," he said in a statement.
Israel and the six Arab Gulf nations who supported the extension "know Iran will spread even greater chaos and destruction if the embargo expires", Pompeo said, "but the Security Council chose to ignore them".
Zhang Jun, China's ambassador to the UN, said in a statement that the result "once again shows that unilateralism receives no support and bullying will fail".
Washington could now follow through on a threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran using a provision in the nuclear deal, known as snapback, even though US President Donald Trump had unilaterally abandoned the accord in 2018. On Thursday, the US had circulated to council members a six-page memo outlining why Washington remains a participant in the nuclear accord and still has the right to use the snapback provision.
In a statement after the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said Washington has "every right to initiate" the snapback mechanism, and added: "In the coming days, the United States will follow through on that promise to stop at nothing to extend the arms embargo."
