In a commentary on Sunday The Washington Post said the Trump administration’s failure to extend an expiring UN arms embargo against Iran offers a telling illustration of how U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has driven U.S. policy into blind alleys.

“A good example can be seen in the debates over Iran this month at the UN Security Council. Amid the press of other news, the Trump administration’s failure to extend an expiring UN arms embargo against Iran hasn’t gotten much attention. But it offers a telling illustration of how Pompeo has driven U.S. policy into blind alleys,” says the article.

On August 21, the U.S. sent a letter to the UN Security Council requesting to initiate the “snapback” mechanism, which allows a participant to the JCPOA to seek reimposition against Iran of UN sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The U.S. took the move following its failure on August 13 at the UN Security Council to extend arms embargo on Iran which will expire in October in accordance with Resolution 2231.

Thirteen countries out of the 15-member UN Security Council have expressed their opposition to the U.S. bid to reimpose the UN sanctions on Iran, arguing that Washington’s move is void given it is using a process under a nuclear deal that it quit more than two years ago.

The Washington Post said the result of the voting session at the Council was humiliating for the United States.

“A week later, he doubled down, notifying the Security Council that the United States would seek to invoke a provision of the nuclear accord allowing one government to unilaterally force the reimposition of UN sanctions — even though Washington is no longer a party to the pact,” the Post said.

“When a 30-day waiting period expires in late September, the Trump administration may insist that global sanctions on Iran are back in force. If it does, the attempted Fiat probably will be ignored by most of the world, including the leading democracies. The United States will stand visibly isolated. And Mike Pompeo’s tenure as history’s worst secretary of state will have reached its apotheosis,” the newspaper said.

NA/PA