Pompeo: US to return to UN to ensure Iran sanctions enforced

Sep 16, 2020

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will return to the United Nations in an effort to reinstate sanctions on Iran next week, despite concerns from UN Security Council members who believe Washington lacks the legal authority to do so. 

“We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions, so that the arms embargo will become permanent next week,” Pompeo said at a briefing with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today. “We’ll do all the things we need to do to ensure that those sanctions are enforced.” 

“The United States will do what it always does. It will do its share as part of its responsibilities to enable peace, this time in the Middle East,” Pompeo said.

Last month, the secretary said he had initiated the process of restoring sanctions by filing a formal UN complaint accusing Tehran of breaching its nuclear obligations under the Obama-era nuclear deal. 

Elliott Abrams, the US special envoy for Iran, said those sanctions will take effect Saturday and warned Washington will impose their “full force” on manufacturers doing business with the Islamic Republic.  “It’s time for peace-loving nations to recognize this reality and join us in imposing sanctions on Iran,” Abrams said.