US reimposes curbs on Iran, world rejects them

TEHRAN: Iran said on Sunday its arch-foe the United States is facing “maximum isolation” ater major powers dismissed a unilateral US declaration that UN sanctions on Tehran were back in force.

The Trump administration said the sanctions had been reactivated under the “snapback” mechanism in a landmark 2015 nuclear treaty -- despite Washington having withdrawn from the deal.

As other signatories cast doubt on the move having any legal effect, Washington threatened to “impose consequences” on states failing to comply.

But Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said a concerted campaign by Washington to pressure Tehran had backfired.

“We can say that America’s ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran, in its political and legal aspect, has turned into America’s maximum isolation,” he said in a televised cabinet meeting.

He also praised the UN Security Council’s approach to the issue as “very valuable” as it ignored “America’s request (and) held no session to consider their request.”

The Security Council was what “the Americans always thought of as their point of strength,” he said.

On Sunday, France, Germany and Britain issued a joint statement saying Washington’s “purported notification” was “incapable of having any legal effect.”

Russia also said the US lacked legal authority and that its “illegitimate initiative and actions” could not have “international legal consequences” for others.

Rouhani thanked UNSC members who had “stood against America’s illegal request” and said that if remaining signatories let Iran access the deal’s economic benefits, Iran would reinstate nuclear commitments it had dropped in response to the US withdrawal.

Iran’s foreign ministry brushed off the move and called on the rest of the world to unite against what it called the US’S “reckless actions.”

“I imagine these are the most biter days and hours for” the United States, said spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announcing the move, said Washington “welcomes the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

He said further measures would be announced in the coming days against sanctions “violators,” to ensure that “Iran does not reap the benefits of Un-prohibited activity.” With around six weeks to go until the US presidential election, Trump could unveil those measures in a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.