Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed yesterday that if the U.S. fails to get the UN arms embargo on Iran extended, it will find other ways. In particular, he lashed out at the 25-year strategic arrangement between Iran and China as a reason to maintain the embargo. “China will sell weapons systems to Iran,” if the embargo is not renewed and the pact goes through, he said, reported the U.A.E.’s The National. Pompeo is traveling to Europe next week, where he’s expected to discuss the extension of the embargo with his European counterparts. He also said that Washington is soon to present another draft Security Council resolution to extend it for another five years, which he claimed that the Europeans favor.
But if the UN Security Council fails to act, the U.S. is not closing the door on other options. “The United States’ overwhelming preference is to work with this council to extend the arms embargo, to protect human life, to protect our national security, and to protect yours,” he said. One option would be to impose multilateral snapback sanctions if the embargo is not renewed. But that would require the Trump Administration to return to the Iran nuclear deal that it abandoned in 2018 in order to activate such sanctions. Such a move would all but guarantee that the agreement collapses.
