CNN quoted informed sources on Wednesday that Britain, France and Germany would not back the US call for renewing the embargo, which is to be lifted later this year under UN Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 2231 that enshrined the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Press TV reported.
A European source stressed that the countries still in the agreement cannot support the US proposal because the arms embargo’s expiration is a formal and legal part of the treaty.
“You won’t see the E3 signing up for that because the arms embargo end is a legitimate part of the JCPOA,” he said.
Peter Stano, the European Commission spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a statement that the “US has not participated in any meetings or activities within the framework of the JCPOA” since unilaterally withdrawing from the agreement in May 2018.
The Europeans, he added, “do not comment on reports of possible positions the US, or other UN members might take, regarding the JCPOA.”
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the US unilaterally withdrew last year, a UN ban on weapons sales to Tehran will end in October 2020.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that the US will not allow Iran to purchase conventional arms after UN sanctions expire in October.
MNA/PR