Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has posted a video on his Twitter feed that explains why the U.S. has no authority to initiate the re-imposition of UN sanctions on Iran. According to Tasnim, it begins with a series of video clips of U.S. officials, starting with Trump‛s announcement of May 8, 2018, saying that the U.S. is no longer a participant in the JCPOA and in UNSC 2231. “After officially and explicitly ceasing its participation in the JCPOA at the highest level, and having violated each and every one of its obligations under the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, the U.S. cannot arrogate to itself any right under that Resolution,” Zarif says in the video.
In any case, the Iranian parliament is preparing for the possibility that the sanctions may be reimposed anyway. Tasnim reports that a group of Iranian lawmakers put forward a motion for an automatic withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal in case the activation of snapback mechanism in the JCPOA would re-impose the UN sanctions on Tehran. The proposal, signed by 49 MPs and submitted to the Parliament’s presiding board, asserts that Iran must withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) automatically as soon as the snapback mechanism is triggered and the UN sanctions are reinstated. The JCPOA states in several locations that Iran had already reserved the right to leave the agreement should sanctions be re-imposed.
