(Bloomberg) -- European governments that aren't backing the U.S. re-imposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran are wedded to the โsillyโ 2015 nuclear deal and haven't proposed an alternative for preventing new conventional arms sales to Iran, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said.
With European powers stressing their commitment to the accord on Sunday, Pompeo doubled down on the U.S. decision to invoke the โsnapbackโ of sanctions in a dispute that's helped estrange President Donald Trump's administration and Europe.
โThe Europeans who have not joined us in this, they know we're right,โ Pompeo said on Fox News's โSunday Morning Futures.โ โThey tell us privately they don't want the arms sales to come backโ and expressed this view in a letter โthat they're very concerned about these arms sales.โ He didn't elaborate on who sent the letter or when.
The U.S. on Saturday said that all of the UN resolutions on Iran that were in place before the 2015 deal -- from a ban on arms deals to restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile activity and its nuclear enrichment -- have now gone back into effect. But 13 of 15 Security Council members say they don't consider the U.S. move valid.
Can't Proceed
โIt is illegitimate for the U.S. to demand the Security Council invoke the snapback mechanismโ because it is no longer a participant of the deal, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun wrote in a letter to the Security Council on Saturday that was seen by Bloomberg News.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also weighed in on the disagreement on Saturday, noting in a letter that he couldn't proceed in acting upon the U.S. snapback because of the โuncertainty over whether or not the processโ was โindeed initiatedโ.
Although Europeans have expressed private concern, โthey haven't lifted a finger, they haven't done the work that needs to be doneโ or have outlined an option to the U.S. snapback, Pompeo said. โI hope they'll join us. I hope they get to the right place. They're still wedded to this silly nuclear deal that was signed now five years ago.โ
Weapons Purchases
Absent the snapback, Iran would be able to resume buying arms, tanks and air defense systems, Pompeo said. โAll of those in a couple of weeks, would have been permitted to have been sold,โ he said.
European powers on Sunday stressed their commitment to the nuclear agreement.
โWe have worked tirelessly to preserve the nuclear agreement and remain committed to do so,โ the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. said in a statement. Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said the accord is โa key pillarโ of nuclear non-proliferation that deserves support.
Since quitting the accord in 2018, the Trump administration has plowed ahead with efforts to undermine the deal, ratcheting up sanctions on Iran and threatening allies if they do business with the Islamic republic. Trump is expected to speak on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly, which is being held virtually this year.
The U.S. campaign has united partners such as the U.K., France and Germany with Russia and China, all of whom have sought to salvage the accord. Their support for the deal has left the U.S. isolated on the United Nations Security Council.
Why U.S., Other Powers Differ on Iran Nuclear Deal: QuickTake
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, at a cabinet meeting on Sunday shown on state television news, called the U.S. move a sign of โcertain failureโ which only demonstrates that President Donald Trump's strategy has resulted in โmaximum isolationโ for Washington.
On Saturday, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened Iran would set U.S. military outposts in the Persian Gulf โon fire at onceโ if its adversary tried to start a war.
To enforce those measures, if countries like Russia and China disregard them, the U.S. could use tools such as secondary sanctions on shippers, insurers and banks. It could even threaten interdictions of ships at sea.
Read More: Iran Warns U.S. Against War Before UN Sanctions Showdown
โIn the coming days, the United States will announce a range of additional measures to strengthen implementation of UN sanctions and hold violators accountable,โ Pompeo said in his statement on Saturday. โOur maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will continue until Iran reaches a comprehensive agreement with us to rein in its proliferation threats and stops spreading chaos, violence and bloodshed.โ
Speaking Sunday at a church in Plano, Texas, Pompeo, said he prays that โthe Iranian people that they will get a government that they deserve that respects the dignity of the lives of the Iranian people.โ
The Iranian rial hit a low on the unregulated open market on Sunday, weakening 4.6% compared with last week and briefly breaching 280,000 per U.S. dollar, according to two currency trading channels on the Telegram messaging app.
ยฉ2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories โ On NDTV Profit.
