China has slammed the United States for requesting sanctions on Tehran, pointing out that it was President Donald Trump who withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Sputnik reported.
"We have repeatedly said that the US has already withdrawn from the JCPOA and therefore has no right to request the restoration of the UN sanctions regime against Iran", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a briefing.
At the same time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also criticised the US, calling the idea of sanctions "absurd" and stressing that Washington's threats against Russian and China for cooperating with Iran are baseless.
The US decided it would trigger the snapback mechanism to re-impose the restrictions, lifted by the agreement, after an American resolution aiming to indefinitely extend a UN arms embargo failed at the Security Council.
As reported on Wednesday, the US President Trump has directed Pompeo to notify the UNSC that the US intends to restore virtually all of the United Nations sanctions on Iran.
US President Donald Trump said the State Department will soon attempt to trigger a “snap back” of UN sanctions on Iran, as the top American diplomat threatened consequences for Moscow and Beijing if they try to block the effort.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on Wednesday night, told the Fox News that the United States will not hesitate to impose sanctions on any nation that opposes its effort to "snapback" United Nations sanctions on Iran.
This is while, the United Nations Security Council resoundingly rejected last Friday a US bid to extend an arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October.
The resolution needed support from nine of 15 votes to pass. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany, and Britain, while the US and the Dominican Republic were the only “yes” votes.
The United States has become isolated over Iran at the Security Council following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
HJ/5003702/PR
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