TEHRAN – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has reiterated Beijing’s opposition to extension of an arms embargo on Iran.

Based on the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, China opposes the United States’ efforts to put pressure on the UN Security Council to extend arms embargo on Iran, he told during a press conference on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

He noted that all agreements of the Security Council, including removal of arms embargo, must be implemented.

The United States has stepped up calls for the extension of a UN arms embargo on Iran since April.

Under the UN Security Council’s 2231 resolution, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, the arms embargo expires in October.

The U.S. President Donald Trump administration has threatened that it may seek to trigger a snapback of all sanctions on Iran if its attempts to extend the arms embargo fail.

China’s UN mission wrote in a tweet in May that the U.S. has “no right” to extend arms embargo on Iran “let alone trigger” a return of all UN sanctions on Tehran.

“It has no right to extend an arms embargo on Iran, let alone to trigger snapback,” China’s UN mission tweeted.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in May that Washington’s plans to introduce an indefinite arms embargo against Iran have no prospects.

“The stubborn shattering of the JCPOA through new anti-Iranian ideas, which include the proposal to impose an indefinite arms embargo against Iran, simply does not honor the United States. It is clear that this course has no prospects,” Zakharova said at a briefing, Sputnik reported.

Those members of the JCPOA, who have maintained a genuine full commitment to the nuclear deal, will continue to fight for its preservation and sustainable implementation, she said.

“There should be no doubt about this in Washington,” she asserted.

NA/PA