in an article published on the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Hook claimed that “one way or another” Washington would ensure the arms embargo remains. He said the United States has drafted a Security Council resolution and “will press ahead with diplomacy and build support.”
“If American diplomacy is frustrated by a veto, however, the US retains the right to renew the arms embargo by other means,” Hook wrote, claiming the ability of a party to the Iran nuclear deal to trigger a so-called snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran, which includes the arms embargo.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted to the US officials' baseless claims and accusations about JCPOA and UN Resolution 2231, noting that JCPOA is none of US' or Brian Hook's business since the Americans have pulled out of the deal.
"It is not unexpected from those who advise people to inject bleaches [to treat Covid-19] to claim that they are a member of an agreement from which they have withdrawn," Zarif told reporters.
"Hook has said that there is nothing left from the JCPOA, that is not his business, either," Zarif said, "The issue is between Iran and the JCPOA parties but not the US."
The US is trying to convince the UN to extend Iran's arms embargo which is to expire in October 2020 but Iran says since Americans have withdrawn from the JCPOA they cannot have a word about the issue.
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. He plans to invoke a provision in the Iran nuclear agreement, which the Trump administration pulled out of in 2018, in an effort to either extend an arms embargo on Iran or reimpose even harsher United Nations (UN) sanctions.
HJ/PR