Amb. Craft to ‘ Post:’ ‘ There are many different types of sanctions’
“There are many different areas of sanctions that are going to be applied to Iran and to the regime,” US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said Thursday. “It should come as no surprise” that the US would apply more sanctions on the Islamic Republic, following a Reuters report that the administration was expected to announce more measures against the regime on Thursday, she told The Jerusalem Post.
Asked about opposition to extend the arms embargo on Iran from 13 out of 15 members of the UN Security Council, Craft said the US fully expects that UN member states are going to comply with UN Resolution 2331.
“Any country that violates 2231 runs the chance of having the same ramifications from the United States,” she said. “We’re not afraid to stand up, making this very clear: Protecting the Middle East, protecting Israel, protecting Europe – we’ll take a responsibility here to protect the European citizens.”
“We are absolutely [ ready to] stand alone when we are doing the right thing,” Craft said. “This is not a popularity contest, and I don’t need a cheering section to tell me that I’m doing the right thing, because what I need is [ a] clear direction from President [ Donald] Trump. We will be applying maximum pressure on Iran. It really doesn’t matter what the other 13 members say.”
The US “gave the E3 [ countries] plenty of opportunities; that’s why we started early [ with the process of extending the arms embargo],” she told the Post.
“It doesn’t matter what country in the world defies [ UN Security Council Resolution] 2331,” Craft said. “Everyone will be under the same restrictions that the US will be applying, whether it’s sanctions or any other tool that we have for every country that breaks this obligation. And we’ve made that very clear.”
Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the US embarrassed itself in trying to trigger snapback sanctions.
“This is a victory, not only for Iran but for the international community, that an aspirant of hegemony is humiliated in such self- created isolation,” he said in his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Craft rejected his remarks, saying: “I would like to know when [ Rouhani] is talking about the different plans of action that they had for Yemen and for Syria and Iraq, is he speaking about propping up the Houthi rebels? Because I don’t see that as a positive plan to promote peace or to help the citizens of Yemen.”
“He said they had a plan for Syria,” she said. “Well, the only plan I’ve seen is the plan to prop up [ Syrian President Bashar] Assad. We all know the turmoil that the Iranian regime has caused the rest of the world.”
Another Arab country could normalize ties with Israel “within a day or two,” Craft told Al Arabiya on Tuesday without elaborating.
“I’m not announcing any agreement or previewing any agreement,” she said. “It’s just expressing the fact that the administration is determined to capitalize on this moment. There is a growing interest and excitement in the region.”