Tehran: Iran’s foreign minister in a letter to the UN Security Council said the US has no right to demand the restoration of UN sanctions against Iran, the Foreign Ministry’s website said on Friday.
Mohammad Javad Zarif said the US lost the right to make demands in 2018 when it withdrew from the nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.
He also said America’s unilateral pullout violated a UN resolution that required signatories to avoid any damage to the deal.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday officially informed the UN it is demanding the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran, but allies and opponents declared the US action illegal and doomed to failure.
Pompeo insisted the United States has the legal right to snap back UN sanctions even though President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers that was endorsed by the Security Council.
He said UN sanctions will continue the arms embargo on Iran, set to expire on Oct. 18, as well as prohibit ballistic missile testing and nuclear enrichment that could lead to a nuclear weapons program which Tehran insists it is not pursuing. (AP)