WASHINGTON, June 10. /TASS/. Washington’s threats to raise the question of restoring all previously lifted sanctions against Iran may lead to a serious crisis within the UN Security Council, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday.

The statement was made in response to US officials’ words, who said that Washington would seek to restore all previously cancelled sanctions against Iran if the UN Security Council fails to preserve the embargo on weapons supplies to Tehran, which expires this fall.

"I think it’s outrageous that the US administration now tries to freely pick and choose what serves its interests in complete rejection of the views of the others and even in complete rejection of the common sense, trying to defeat JCPOA," Ryabkov said during a videoconference of the New York Council on Foreign Relations.

"If this will happen the way as you suggest and, as many think-tankers, many op-ed writers, just people knowledgeable of this believe, would happen, then we will inevitably end in a severe crisis situation at the Security Council," the Russian diplomat continued. "And it would be a huge blow to the sovereignty of the Security Council, and the US will bear responsibility for this."

He said Washington withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, which envisages the mechanism of triggering the ‘snapback’ sanctions, "subsequently approved by the UN Security Council resolution."

US Special Representative for Iran and Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State Brian Hook said at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation on Tuesday that the US was ready to raise the issue of restoring all sanctions against Tehran if the arms embargo is not extended.

 

Iran nuclear deal issue

In 2015, Iran and six major powers (five member states of the United Nations Security Council - Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China - and Germany) agreed on the final Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which particularly stipulated the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program.

On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. He said that old sanctions on Iran would be restored and new ones would be introduced in case Tehran attempted to pursue its nuclear ambitions. In contrast, the United Kingdom, Germany and France called on other participants in the deal to continue fulfilling it. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would seek to maintain the agreement.

However, Tehran believes that other signatories, primarily EU countries, failed to fulfill their economic obligations under the deal, making it irrelevant. In this regard, Iran began to reduce its commitments under the agreement.