Washington reinstating virtually all the U.N. sanctions on Iran

By Nathan Morley

According to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the sanctions were re-imposed on Saturday night through the snapback process contained in United Nations. Security Council Resolution 2231.

In a statement, Pompeo described Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and anti-Semitism. The Trump administration has warned that an Iran free from restrictions would lead to further regional destabilization and a regional arms race.

The statement added that Washington took this action because Iran failed to up-hold its JCPOA commitments and the Security Council failed to extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran.

In response, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, "Americans as a rule act as a bully and impose sanctions. … The world community should decide how to act towards bullying".

Last month, Britain, France and Germany, said they could not support Washington’s move to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran, insisting the action was incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal.

The United States withdrew from that deal in 2018, and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran.