Iran downplays US' attempts to trigger 'snapback' mechanism

Tehran, Aug 17 (IANS) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the US cannot invoke the snapback mechanism under the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 after Washington failed to extend the current arms embargo against Tehran.

Washington has officially announced its departure from the Iranian 2015 landmark deal and "has no right to invoke snapback clause" Zarif was quoted as saying on Sunday by Xinhua news agency.

"They (the Americans) think that if they say something loud and repeat it again and again, it will bring them a right," Zarif said with reference to the US' persistence on triggering the snapback mechanism which means restoration of all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran.

The US has said it would invoke snapback sanctions against Iran after its draft resolution failed to get the required nine votes in favour at the UN Security Council on August 14 to extend the arms embargo.

Besides the US, only the Dominican Republic voted in favour of the draft.

China and Russia voted against the text, and the remaining 11 Security Council members, including the European allies of the US, abstained.

Under Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers of the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US, the arms embargo against Iran expires on October 18.

The US withdrew from the landmark agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018.

The draft sought to extend the 13-year embargo indefinitely until the Security Council decides otherwise.

An earlier version, which was introduced in June, sought the authorization of vessel inspections and weapons seizures as well as a travel ban and assets freeze, according to diplomats.

Under Resolution 2231, any participant state to the Iran nuclear deal can notify the Security Council about an issue that it considers a significant violation of the agreement.