TEHRAN - Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations, has criticized the United States for not saying a “single word” about its obligations under the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 the confirms the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Ulyanov made the comments as the United States has drafted a resolution to extend arms embargo against Iran which ends in October under the resolution.

“US officials claim that US retains the rights under UNSC resolution 2231. No single word about US obligations which come together with rights. In particular, what about refraining from “actions that undermine implementation of commitments under #JCPOA” (paragraph 2 of res.2231)?” Ulyanov tweeted on Friday.

In a report on April 26, The New York Times said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preparing a legal argument that the United States remains a participant in the Iran nuclear accord that President Trump has renounced, part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran or see far more stringent sanctions reimposed on the country.

“In an effort to force the issue, Mr. Pompeo has approved a plan, bound to be opposed by many of Washington’s European allies, under which the United States would, in essence, claim it legally remains a ‘participant state’ in the nuclear accord that Mr. Trump has denounced — but only for the purposes of invoking a ‘snapback’ that would restore the UN sanctions on Iran that were in place before the accord,” The Times said.

In a tweet addressed to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday, Pompeo claimed that the rights of the U.S. under the 2231 resolution are separate from the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the JCPOA.

Warren, a former Democratic presidential candidate, had dismissed the argument by the Trump administration. 

“The international prohibition on weapons going to/from Iran ends in October. To extend this arms embargo, the Trump admin is suddenly arguing that the US is a party to the same Iran Deal it abandoned. That makes no sense. Make up your mind, @SecPompeo,” Warren tweeted.

Professor Frank N. von Hippel, former assistant director for national security in the White House Office of Science and Technology, has told the Tehran Times that “as I understand the argument, the Trump Administration does not want Iran to buy conventional weapons.”  

Speaking on Friday, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, said, “The fact that the United States wants to say that it is a member of the JCPOA and use the path of Resolution 2231 is similar to a joke.”

The U.S. attempts to extend an arms embargo against Iran. The ban on selling conventional weapons to Iran under the Security Council’s Resolution 2231 that blessed the nuclear agreement will be lifted on October 18, 2020.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has said that the U.S. can no longer be considered as a participating member of the JCPOA.

“It’s clear that in the statement by President Trump and the U.S. presidential memorandum of last May (May 218), they announced that he was ending his participation in JCPOA,” he said in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL on Thursday.

“And I also want to recall that the U.S. has not participated in any meetings of activities within the framework of this agreement since then. So it’s quite clear for us that the U.S. is no longer a participating member in this agreement,” Borrell added.

In a tweet on Thursday, Ulyanov said, “The US attempts to present itself as ‘JCPOA participants’ have no future. It is like common sense mockery. Those who invented this idea gave bad advice to US authorities. Cynical approaches must have their own limits in order not to compromise national policy to the worst extent.”

NA/PA