US demands to resume all sanctions against Iran Bolton: no legal basis

Guo Han: the UN Security Council’s seesaw war over sanctions against Iran continues. The trump administration, which has just suffered “humiliating defeat” in the vote, insists on its own course, saying it will propose to resume all sanctions against Iran that the United Nations had previously suspended on Thursday (20th). < p > < p > China and other States parties to the Iran nuclear agreement have made it clear that the United States has no right to use the terms of the agreement to restart sanctions after its unilateral “withdrawal”. However, the U.S. government forcibly used the Security Council resolution procedure, threatened to use the “five permanent” veto power to forcibly resume sanctions against Iran, and even threatened “long arm” sanctions against countries that would not follow. As the general election approaches, trump is eager to boost the polls by playing the diplomatic card. However, even Bolton, the former president’s national security adviser, who is the most opposed to Iran in the United States, has admitted that there is no international legal basis for trump to restart sanctions and “the gains outweigh the losses”. According to US media analysis, other countries may ignore the United States and refuse to follow up. At that time, the United States may become “isolated” in the implementation stage of sanctions. Trump revealed at a press conference on the same day that Secretary of state pompeio will go to the United Nations headquarters on Thursday to inform the United States that it will invoke the Iran nuclear agreement mechanism and comprehensively resume international sanctions against Iran, AP reported on the 19th. < / P > < p > “today, I ask Secretary of state pompeio to inform the United Nations Security Council that the United States plans to resume almost all of the previously suspended sanctions against Iran by the United Nations. We will quote the immediate recovery clause. ” The snapback clause is part of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. The agreement is in exchange for Iran’s cessation of nuclear weapons development by lifting sanctions against Iran. UN Security Council resolution 2231 at that time mentioned that if Iran was found to have seriously violated the agreement, the Security Council would invoke the “immediate recovery” clause to vote within 30 days to decide whether to continue to exempt Iran from sanctions. The United States announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018. In his speech, trump also “dumped the pot” of the former US president, describing the agreement as a diplomatic failure of Obama and Biden and “a disaster”. He also said that the US sanctions had achieved remarkable results and had weakened the Iranian economy. < / P > < p > “in the first month of my re-election, Iran will come and negotiate with us.” He promised that he would never allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons during his term of office. < p > < p > Trump’s request has caused great controversy. The core issue is whether there is an international law basis for the United States to propose the resumption of sanctions after its “withdrawal”. The trump administration insists that the United States, as defined by the Security Council resolution, is still a party to the agreement and therefore has the right to invoke the “immediate recovery” clause. The statement of < / P > < p > was opposed by other States parties to the Iran nuclear agreement. Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said on the 14th that the United States will no longer be a party to the agreement after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement, and is not qualified to ask the Security Council to activate the agreement mechanism. On the 14th, 15 members of the UN Security Council voted on the extension of the US arms ban on Iran. As a result, Britain, France and Germany abstained, while the United States received only one vote from Dominica. Iranian President ruhani and foreign minister Zarif have continuously ridiculed “the United States has suffered humiliating failure” and “unprecedented”. However, the trump administration is still committed. After pompeio informed the United Nations that the United States had decided to invoke the “immediate recovery” clause, the Security Council would vote within 30 days in accordance with the procedure. The U.S. government has publicly said that it will use the veto power of the permanent members to forcibly “stop” and exempt the sanctions; after 30 days, the countries that refuse to sanction Iran will be regarded as “violating the UN resolution” and punished by the United States. Richard Goldberg, a researcher at the US think tank, told Fox News that he estimated that China and Russia “would play all kinds of games”, but if the United States used its veto power, if the Security Council could not continue to exempt sanctions against Iran within 30 days, “the United States will win.” However, the associated press reminded that the trump administration did not consider that other countries could ignore and refuse to follow up the sanctions initiated by the United States on the ground of “lack of basis of international law”. In theory, the United States can not effectively consider all aspects of China’s massive sanctions against Iraq on its own. In addition, with the US election approaching, trump is eager to boost the polls by playing the diplomatic card. Other countries may also be waiting for a policy shift as a result of the election. Bush Lincoln, a foreign policy adviser to trump’s rival and candidate Biden, has disclosed that if Biden wins, he will return to the framework of the Iran nuclear agreement and further negotiate with Iran. Fox News believes that Trump’s resumption of sanctions against Iran will infuriate many people and win the support of people in the Republican Party. However, Bolton, the most famous anti Iran “iron” in the United States and former national security adviser to the president, does not agree with this approach. Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, admitted that the United States had lost the right to invoke the “immediate recovery” clause after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement. The strong push of the trump administration will only weaken the effectiveness of the US veto in the Security Council, “the gain is not worth the loss”. Bolton’s remarks were rarely praised by Iranian foreign minister Zarif: “at least his (Bolton’s) position is consistent This is exactly what the current US administration lacks. ”