Mike Pompeo sets US on collision course with UN partners over Iran – By Julian Borger (The Guardian) / Aug 20 2020
European governments reject US secretary of state’s attempt to use ‘snapback’ mechanism to trigger nuclear sanctions
Mike Pompeo has set the US on a collision course with most of its UN partners in an attempt to extend the isolation of Iran.
Instead it was the US which appeared beleaguered, with Pompeo clashing bitterly with European allies, emphasising a deepening Transatlantic rift.
The US secretary of state went to the UN on Thursday to set in motion a diplomatic gambit, claiming the US is still a participant in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran – from which Donald Trump explicitly withdrew two years ago – and therefore retains the right under the rules of the deal to trigger a “snapback” or resumption of full UN sanctions.
Very few other UN member states think the US has the authority to do this. Even before he made a scheduled announcement at the UN headquarters in New York, the UK, France and Germany issued a statement saying the the US was not a participant and they would not support it.
In response, Pompeo denounced the Europeans as having chosen to “side with the Ayatollahs”.
Continue to article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/20/us-claims-it-is-still-part-of-nuclear-deal-in-attempt-to-resume-iran-sanctions
