US Says Will Seek UN Sanctions If Iran Arms Embargo not Extended

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives for a press conference at the State Department, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives for a press conference at the State Department, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
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US Says Will Seek UN Sanctions If Iran Arms Embargo not Extended

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives for a press conference at the State Department, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives for a press conference at the State Department, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to seek to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if the UN Security Council does not approve a resolution that would indefinitely extend the arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October.

Pompeo told a news conference at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday that without extending the arms embargo, "Iran will be able to purchase advanced weapons systems and become an arms dealer of choice for terrorists and rogue regimes all throughout the world. This is unacceptable."

He spoke ahead of a closed video briefing to Security Council members Wednesday afternoon on the US draft resolution to maintain the arms embargo by US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook and US Ambassador Kelly Craft.

Tensions between Iran and the US have escalated since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six major powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling US sanctions.

A year ago, the US sent thousands more troops, long-range bombers, and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on US interests in the region.

The five other powers that signed the nuclear deal - Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany - remain committed to it, saying the agreement is key to continuing inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and preventing Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.

Lifting the arms embargo is part of the 2015 Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear agreement. The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the resolution's implementation on June 30.

Calling Iran "the leading state sponsor of terror," Pompeo said the US focus is to work with the Security Council to pass the resolution.

"But, in the event that doesn´t happen, I would remind the world that the Obama administration´s officials said very clearly that the United States has the unilateral ability to snap back sanctions into place," he said.

The 2015 nuclear deal includes a "snap back" provision which would restore all UN sanctions against Iran that had been lifted or eased if the nuclear deal is violated.

The State Department said that in his briefing, Hook pointed to Iranian arms transfers and "the full range of Iran´s malign activity, including its September 2019 direct attack on Saudi Arabia," which violate current restrictions. Drone strikes hit two Saudi oil installations on Sept. 14, which the US blamed on Iran.

Russia´s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has made clear Moscow´s opposition to a new arms embargo on Iran and has dismissed as "ridiculous" the possibility of the Trump administration trying to use the "snap back" provision.

Nebenzia said the US pulled out of the agreement and "they have no right" to use any of its provisions.

But Pompeo and Craft insist the resolution makes clear the US retains to right to use the "snap back" provision.

Diplomats said that at Wednesday´s closed briefing there was an exchange of views with the US on one side and Russia on the other.

Some Western governments privately fear that maintaining an arms embargo will lead Iran to oust IAEA inspectors and move ahead on developing nuclear weapons.

The latest report by IAEA said Iran has continued to increase its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The nuclear agreement promised Iran economic incentives in return for curbs on its nuclear program, which Tehran said it hasn´t received, especially since the US withdrawal in 2018. Iran has since slowly and openly violated the nuclear restrictions to try and pressure the remaining nations in the agreement to increase incentives to offset the economy-crippling US sanctions.

The draft US resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would ban Iran from supplying, selling, or transferring any arms or related material from its territory after the embargo expires on Oct. 18.

It would also ban the other 192 UN member states from buying Iranian weapons or allowing their nationals to train, provide financial resources or assistance related "to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture, maintenance, or use of arms and related materiel" to Iran unless they get Security Council approval at least 30 days in advance.

The draft would authorize all UN member states to inspect cargo entering or transiting through their territory at airports, seaports, and free trade zones from Iran or heading there if the member state "has reasonable grounds to believe the cargo" contains banned items.

It would also condemn the September 2019 attack against Saudi Arabia "carried out by Iran" and condemn December 2019 attacks against an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk and the US Embassy in Baghdad. And it would deplore "Iran´s transfers of arms to militias and other armed groups in the region" and demand that Iran stop such transfers immediately.



Zelenskiy Says Ready to Exchange N. Korean Soldiers for Ukrainians Held in Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
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Zelenskiy Says Ready to Exchange N. Korean Soldiers for Ukrainians Held in Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen (not pictured), amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday Kyiv is ready to hand over North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can organize their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia.
"In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It's only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others," Zelenskiy said on the social media platform X.
Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the nearly three-year-old war last autumn.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia's ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow's forces. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence, Reuters reported.
Zelenskiy has said Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses.
"Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un's soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy posted a short video showing the interrogation of two men who are presented as North Korean soldiers. One of them is lying on a bed with bandaged hands, the other is sitting with a bandage on his jaw.
One of the men said through an interpreter that he did not know he was fighting against Ukraine and had been told he was on a training exercise.
He said he hid in a shelter during the offensive and was found a couple of days later. He said that if he was ordered to return to North Korea, he would, but said he was ready to stay in Ukraine if given the chance.
Reuters could not verify the video.
Zelenskiy said that for those North Korean soldiers who did not wish to return home, there may be other options available and "those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in the Korean (language) will be given that opportunity."
Zelenskiy provided no specific details.