UN arms embargo on Iran expires despite US objections
A DECADE-LONG UN arms embargo on Iran, barring it from purchasing foreign weapons like tanks and fighter jets, expired yesterday as planned under its nuclear deal with world powers. There have been objections from the United States, which insists the ban remains in place.
While Iran says it plans no buying spree, it can now in theory purchase weapons to upgrade military armaments dating back to before its 1979 Islamic Revolution and sell its own locally-produced gear abroad.
In practice, however, Iran’s economy remains crippled by broad-reaching US sanctions, and other nations may avoid arms deals with Tehran for fear of American financial retaliation. The Trump administration has warned that any sales of weapons to Iran or exports from Iran will be penalised.
The Islamic Republic heralded the end of the arms embargo as “a momentous day for the international community… in defiance of the US regime’s effort.”
The Trump administration, meanwhile, says the expiration is moot since it reimposed all UN sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo, via a clause in the nuclear deal Trump withdrew from in 2018, a claim ignored by the rest of the world.
“Today’s normalisation of Iran’s defence cooperation with the world is a win for the cause of multilateralism and peace and security in our region,” Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, wrote on Twitter.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flatly rejected the expiration.
“For the past 10 years, countries have refrained from selling weapons to Iran under various UN measures,” Mr Pompeo said in a statement. “Any country that now challenges this prohibition will be very clearly choosing to fuel conflict and tension over promoting peace and security.”
The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear programme.
Tensions between Iran and the United States reached fever pitch at the start of the year, when an American drone killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. Tehran retaliated with a ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq that injured dozens.