TEHRAN - Mohamed ElBaradei, a former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said that the unprecedented standoff between the United States and the rest of the world at the UN Security Council is “highly dangerous”.

“The unprecedented standoff in the SC between the US & the rest of the world re it’s rights or lack thereof under the #JCPOA is highly dangerous. Regardless of policy positions on Iran, the rule of law must be upheld & the tenuous credibility of the SC must be preserved,” he tweeted on Sunday.

On Thursday, 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.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to punish those countries that oppose its effort to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

In a joint statement on Thursday the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, whose countries are signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPO), issued a joint statement saying they cannot support the United States’ action in triggering the snapback mechanism because the U.S. is no longer a participant to the JCPOA.

The Chinese mission to the United Nations said in a tweet on Friday that the United States is not a participant to the nuclear deal and therefore it is “ineligible” to invoke the snapback mechanism to return all the UN sanctions on Iran.

NA/PA