Mike Pompeo is the ruler of the universe and his word is law ... at least according to the fantasy world that exists inside his own fevered mind. The problem is that his effort to impose that fantasy will have consequences in the real world.
Pompeo issued a statement last night decreeing that all of the UN sanctions on Iran that were lifted by UNSC 2231 have now been re-imposed and the arms embargo is now permanent. “The United States took this decisive action because, in addition to Iran’s failure to perform its JCPOA commitments, the Security Council failed to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, which had been in place for 13 years,” Pompeo said. “The Security Council’s inaction would have paved the way for Iran to buy all manner of conventional weapons on October 18. Fortunately for the world, the United States took responsible action to stop this from happening. In accordance with our rights under UNSCR 2231, we initiated the snapback process to restore virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions, including the arms embargo. The world will be safer as a result.”
Explicit in all this, of course, is the threat of U.S. action should the world ignore Pompeo’s decree, and all indications, so far, are that it will. “The United States expects all UN Member States to fully comply with their obligations to implement these measures,” Pompeo said. “If UN Member States fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity.”
“In the coming days, the United States will announce a range of additional measures to strengthen implementation of UN sanctions and hold violators accountable,” the statement concluded. “Our maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will continue until Iran reaches a comprehensive agreement with us to rein in its proliferation threats and stops spreading chaos, violence, and bloodshed.”
