The United States continues to mislead the international community by speculating that the UN Security Council has completed procedures to restore the UN Security Council sanctions resolutions on Iran that were terminated after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme (JCPOA) in 2015.

The United States certainly understands that its assertions are at odds with reality. It is for this reason that the US threatens all the dissenting voices with sanctions and other penalties, just as it always does. It seems that the US foreign policy has run out of any other arguments.

In fact, the UN Security Council has not taken any action to reinstate the foregone sanctions on Iran. Washington’s moves boil down to dramatic posturing for the sake of subjecting the Security Council to its maximum pressure campaign on Iran and turning this respected institution into a tool at its disposal. This did not work.

The United States is fully aware of the fact that by withdrawing from the “nuclear deal” in May 2018, restoring unilateral sanctions on Tehran and by seeking to undermine efforts by other countries to follow UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the US cast aside the international norms set forth in the corresponding UN Security Council decisions and the UN Charter. Now Washington is trying to force others to put on augmented reality headsets with a “made in USA” label in order to view the developments around Iran and the JCPOA through this prism. However, the world is not an American video game.

By engaging in this unbridled behaviour that runs counter to the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the US is dealing a severe blow to the UN Security Council, and openly ignores its decisions and the international law in general. This is unacceptable not only for Russia, but for other Security Council members as well. It is not surprising that the American side has failed in its gamble to re-impose the previously terminated UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Back in August, an overwhelming majority of UN Security Council members stated their position clearly. They pointed out that the US aspirations were null and void from both the legal and procedural perspectives. In particular, they noted that the letter from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dated August 20, on which Washington relies, cannot be viewed as a “notification” within the meaning of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to launch the process leading to the restoration of the previous sanctions. The open debate on August 25 led to the conclusion that the Security Council was not in a position to take further action based on the US application. The council reaffirmed this position in September. Russia fully shares this view.

Claiming that the provisions of the resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have now been reinstated is wishful thinking. We hope that our US colleagues will have the courage to finally look the truth in the eye and stop speaking on behalf of the UN Security Council. The illegitimate actions by the US cannot have any effect in terms of international law on other countries or bind them to curtail their legal cooperation with Iran.

Efforts to preserve and ensure a steady implementation of the JCPOA will carry on. The UN Security Council Resolution 2231 remains in force, unaltered, and the commitments arising from it have to be fulfilled as originally agreed by all states based on the principle of reciprocity.

Instead of aggravating the situation, the United States should immediately renounce its course to dismantle the JCPOA and undermine UN Security Council Resolution 2231.