Kerry says ‘snapback’ sanctions won’t be triggered by Iran violating arms embargo

If Iran violates the arms embargo or the restrictions imposed on its missile program it would not force an automatic reinstatement of sanctions, US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York.

“The arms embargo is not tied to snapback,” Kerry said. “It is tied to a separate set of obligations. So they are not in material breach of the nuclear agreement for violating the arms piece of it.”

Kerry told the audience that the UN panel which has until now been monitoring countries’ compliance with the sanctions regime would be abolished in coming months and a new mechanism would have to be created.

Iran wanted to tie the nuclear deal with measures taken against its missile program and allegations of terror funding. But those remain under two separate sets of restrictions, eight and five years long, respectively, while the nuclear deal has a 10-year expiration date.

It was not clear until now, however, whether Iran would trigger the so-called snapback sanctions if it violated the two shorter embargoes.

Kerry told the Reuters event that the US and its allies will have “ample tools at our disposal” if Iran violated the arms embargo and missile sanctions.

“There is a specific UN resolution outside of this agreement that prohibits them from sending weapons to Hezbollah. There is a separate and specific UN resolution that prohibits them from sending weapons to the Shia militia in Iraq,” he is quoted by Reuters as saying.

Kerry added that similar resolutions banned arms sales to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and to other potential buyers of arms from Iran.

According to the Reuters report, the Islamic Republic has consistently violated the UN arms embargo and missile sanctions.