1:39 PM, 15 August
Washington- The US proposal to extend an arms embargo on Iran suffered a humiliating defeat at the United Nations security council with only one other country supporting the proposal.
From the 15- member council only Dominican Republic voted in support of US. Russia and China voted no, but did not need to deploy a veto, while the remaining members of the Council abstained.
The embargo will end on Oct. 18 as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). In recent months the U.S. tried all diplomatic efforts to get Security Council members to get the embargo extended, warning that embargo expiration would allow Iran to access weapons that could be used in terrorist related activities around the world.
In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the vote a failure of the security council members, “It rejected a reasonable resolution to extend the 13-year old arms embargo on Iran and paved the way for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell conventional weapons without specific U.N. restrictions in place for the first time in over a decade,”
Acting UK Ambassador Jonathan Allen said in a statement that the UK abstained, “because it was clear that it would not attract the support of the Council and would not represent a basis for achieving consensus” and would therefore not contribute to regional stability.
“Nevertheless, we stand ready to work with Council Members and JCPoA participants to seek a path forward that could secure the support of the Council,” he said.
In a long statement to the Council, Iranian Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi accused the U.S. of creating a “manufactured crisis about Iran’s nuclear program,” and that it was now “manufacturing a new crisis under the so-called label of “arms proliferation.”
Israel’s newly-installed Ambassador Gilad Erdan had harsh words for the Council, calling the rejection of the resolution “a disgrace.”
“The Council has utterly failed in its responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. This decision will further destabilize the Middle East, and increase the spread of violence around the world,” he said.
