Today, at 8 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (midnight GMT), the UN sanctions on Iran are to “snap back” into place — or at least, that’s what the U.S. State Department says will happen. Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3 signers of the 2015 nuclear deal, told the UN Security Council yesterday that UN sanctions relief for Iran would continue as they are. In a letter to the UN Security Council seen by Reuters, they said any decision or action taken to reimpose UN sanctions “would be incapable of legal effect.”
“We have worked tirelessly to preserve the nuclear agreement and remain committed to do so,” said the UN envoys for Britain, France and Germany, and declaring that they remain committed to “fully implementing” Security Council resolution 2231.
Reuters reported on Sept. 17 that an executive order is being prepared for Trump’s signature which will impose sanctions on foreign arms sellers selling arms to Iran, by denying them access to the U.S. market. Reuters reported this morning that aside from reimposing the arms embargo, the UN sanctions would “ban Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons [which Iran is not doing anyway since they have no nuclear warheads to put on them—ed.] and bring back targeted sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities. Countries also would be urged to inspect shipments to and from Iran and authorized to seize any banned cargo.” It seems, however, given the E3 statement, that none of this will happen.
The Iranians will ignore the U.S. demand to enforce UN sanctions, but they don’t believe that it will be without consequence. “What is going on in the arena of U.S. foreign policy about the snapback invocation in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is actually an attempt to pull Iran into a new playground to provide Washington with more options,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said earlier today, reported IRNA. Rabiei also expressed confidence that the U.S. will still fail, as it is more isolated than could have been conceived a decade ago. “Patience is sometimes the most effective way to counter the enemy. The isolation of the U.S. is the result of Iran’s patience on the days Trump decided to withdraw from the international deal,” Rabiei said. “Perhaps, if we had shown our anger and made a retaliatory move, the U.S. would not be so isolated now.”
