Iran says US sanctions violate UN resolution

WASHINGTON (AP): IRAN’S UN ambassador is accusing the United States of “brazenly and boldly” violating a UN Security Council resolution that unanimously endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal by re-imposing sanctions. He called for “a collective response by the international community”. Gholamali Khoshroo said in a letter on Monday to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the US “unilateral coercive measures” also violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In addition, he said the US, sanctions are “contrary to the provisional measures that were ordered by the International Court of Justice on October 3, 2018”.

COLLECTIVE RESPONSE

Khoshroo, who asked that the letter be circulated to the 15-member Security Council and the 193member General Assembly, said a collective response against the “irresponsible conduct” of the US is needed “to uphold the rule of law, to prevent undermining diplomacy and to protect multilateralism.”

The Trump administration’s tough new sanctions on Iran took effect Monday, but the US is temporarily sparing eight major importers of Iranian oil from immediate penalties.

The sanctions target Iran’s energy, financial and shipping sectors and are aimed at crippling the country’s economy following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. The measures that came into effect on Monday restore all the sanctions that had been lifted under the accord that gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

But as the administration seeks to cut off Iran’s oil revenue, it will allow some of its closest allies and rival China to continue to purchase Iranian oil as long as they work to reduce imports to zero.

Besides China, Greece, India, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan get US sanctions waivers for Iran oil imports.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is defending the Trump administration’s reimposition of sanctions against Iran from conservative critics, who argue that more should be done to isolate the country.

President Donald Trump removed the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal earlier this year, triggering the sanctions being imposed Monday.