Pompeo due at UN to trigger Iran sanctions ‘snapback’

UNITED NATIONS — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travels to the UN today to activate a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing international sanctions on Iran, in a disputed move that threatens the Iranian nuclear deal.

Pompeo will tell the Security Council president, currently Indonesia, at a 2:00 p.m. local time (9 p.m. Israel Time), that the US is triggering the so-called “snapback” procedure, which its European allies are set to contest.

The move widens the gulf between the US and the other permanent members of the Security Council on Iran policy, which began when President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord with Tehran in 2018.

The procedure, never before used, comes after the US suffered a humiliating defeat at the Security Council last week when it failed to muster support for a resolution to extend a conventional arms embargo on Iran.

The snapback aims to restore all international sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran in exchange for it agreeing not to develop nuclear weapons.

But it also threatens to torpedo that historic deal, which Britain, France and Germany — along with Russia and China — are trying to save.

Pompeo will also discuss the move with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at Guterres’ residence in New York during a meeting at 2:30 pm.

America’s top diplomat is then due to brief press at the UN at 3:30 pm.

— AFP