TEHRAN - Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations, has said that opponents of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, are “helpless and even ignorant”.

“The opponents of the #IranDeal are helpless and even ignorant. At the beginning of a dispute, they provide 2-3 counterarguments and slogans. As soon as these arguments and slogans are exhausted, they move on to insulting opponents without proper justification. Not surprising!” he tweeted on Saturday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday that no country is allowed to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions selectively.

Ryabok was openly referring to Resolution 2231 that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal but the U.S. violated it by quitting the JCPOA.
 
“No one is allowed to implement UN Security Council resolutions selectively and extremely fragmentarily,” Ryabkov told the Valdai discussion club, the UrduPoint News reported.

The actions of the United States to extend the arms embargo and launch the process of returning sanctions against Iran are “cynical” and could lead to a crisis in the UN Security Council, the top Russian diplomat said.

“In this situation, it is cynical to push for the activation of the snapback mechanism [return of sanctions], which is laid down in this resolution,” Ryabkov said.

“Washington will not have an easy road here in any case. Although the conclusion is that the next crisis in the UN Security Council and the UN as a whole is imminent, taking into account this U.S. stubbornness. Of course, I can agree with this conclusion,” he said.

Ryabkov noted that it was the United States that had left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action two years ago, and now they are “in a state of gross violation of UN Security Council resolution [2231].”

Richard Goldberg, a political advisor and aide to the U.S. National Security tweeted on Thursday that “the UN Security Council must extend the arms embargo against Iran. If it won’t, the U.S. is prepared to ‘snap back’ sanctions, writes Brian H. Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran.”

In a tweet on Thursday, Ulyanov said that it looks like the U.S. attempts to blackmail the UN Security Council members.

“Looks like an attempt to blackmail the UNSC Member States. US position on arms embargo against #Iran and #SnapBack is very weak not only from the viewpoint of common sense but also in legal terms,” he said.

NA/PA