Washington withdrew from the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, so its decisions to renew sanctions have no legal force, according to Berlin, Paris, and London.
Germany, France, and Britain have rejected a US proposal to renew sanctions against Iran after September 20. This is stated in the letter of the permanent representatives of these countries to the UN, addressed to the UN Security Council.
As noted, three European countries – Great Britain, France, and Germany (the so-called Euro tree) – contrary to the position of the United States, refused to renew sanctions against Tehran, which were lifted after the signing of an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program in 2015.
The letter states that any decisions or actions by the United States aimed at activating the mechanism to restore UN sanctions against Iran will not have legal force due to Washington’s withdrawal from the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
The mechanism for restoring sanctions was laid down in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which ratified the nuclear agreement with Iran signed in 2015. According to this clause, in case of non-fulfillment of the terms of the agreement, any of its participants can demand the restoration of penal measures, and other parties cannot veto this demand.
However, due to the unilateral US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, the Euro tree believes that Washington no longer has the legal ability to demand the restoration of UN sanctions against Tehran.
The White House is convinced that formally Washington has the right to use this mechanism since it participated in the signing of the resolution.
It is not yet clear how the United States will be able to launch this mechanism if the majority of countries in the UN Security Council do not support Washington on this issue.
Earlier, the United States announced the restoration of UN sanctions against Iran. Washington also threatened Tehran’s nuclear supporters with measures.
