UNSC Shenanigans.

17 October 2023 17:41

Foreign Ministry statement on the expiry of certain restrictions as per UN Security Council Resolution 2231

2078-17-10-2023

"On October 18, requirements set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 2231 on the Iranian missile programme and international cooperation with Tehran on this matter expired. The same applies to the freezing of assets belonging to certain individuals and entities of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). In the meantime, the United States and European countries had the obligation to undertake a series of practical steps to lift the fundamentally illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran. Taken together, these measures were designed to enable Iran to ratify the Additional Protocol to the IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.

Russia firmly believes in the need to rigorously comply with and execute to the letter Security Council resolutions in strict keeping with the agreed parameters. Driven by momentary and opportunistic considerations, the attempts by Western countries to retrospectively rethink or to change the provisions contained in UNSC Resolution 2231 and present this as an accomplished fact are illegal, detrimental and undermine the carefully crafted balance of interests which lies at the core of this resolution.

This is not just a matter of the United States consistently failing to abide by this resolution – on October 17, the European Union announced its decision to keep the anti-Iranian restrictions in place, which runs counter to its obligations. In this way, the EU opted for following Washington down the slippery slope of legal nihilism.

In its effort to settle its political scores with Tehran, the West has chosen the JCPOA as its immediate target and has demonstrated its disdain towards international law, the UN Charter and the UN Security Council’s authority for everyone to see. The promises by the current US administration to move away from the policy of exerting maximum pressure on Iran and return to the nuclear deal have never materialised. Today, it is the EU’s turn to find itself in an unenviable and ambiguous situation. The EU retains its formal status of the JCPOA Joint Commission’s coordinator, whereas European countries remain parties to the nuclear deal.

We can no longer trust promises by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell who talked in his October 6 statement about keeping up efforts to restore the JCPOA in full. It is hard to imagine how the policy line adopted by the EU to deliberately refrain from implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2231 can accompany effective efforts to breathe new life into the nuclear deal. EU officials can’t maintain even a modicum of decency in their dealings, having failed to engage the very JCPOA mechanisms they cite to justify their actions. Therefore, Brussels and the European countries which are parties to the JCPOA have joined the campaign launched by Donald Trump to dismantle the 2015 comprehensive agreements of their own free will.

Russia roundly condemns the bad-faith practices of the Western countries. After lengthy deliberations, the Security Council adopted a decision on a specific country in full compliance with the UN Charter, only to see the United States and its satellites supplement it with their unilateral sanctions without the Security Council’s approval. Russia has raised this issue within the UN Security Council and highlighted its urgency, including during the September 20 meeting on promoting the UN Charter’s principles and purposes through effective multilateralism.

The Anglo-Saxons and the EU are trying in vain to justify their illegitimate actions by over hyping the alleged Iranian threat and seeking to shift the blame for the JCPOA’s failure on Tehran. The unilateral decisions the West takes to serve its ceaseless ambitions and soothe its phobias demonstrate its inability to reach and perform any agreements, and in all cases do not entail any legal consequences for other countries which respect international law and their obligations.

As for Russia, it will continue to abide by Presidential Executive Order No 109 of March 11, 2016 titled Measures to Implement UN Security Council Resolution 2231 of July 20, 2015.

Supplies to and from Iran of products which fall within the remit of the Missile Technology Control Regime are not subject to preliminary approval by the UN Security Council anymore.

The list of persons contained in the annex to the resolution has become irrelevant.

The European countries must recognise this and immediately renounce their policy of unilateral restrictions on Tehran.

Anything less would put the future of the JCPOA into question and may escalate the situation with the Iranian nuclear programme, with likely devastating consequences for the already tense situation in the Middle East."

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1909945/