TEHRAN - Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko has said that the United States is no longer a party to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and has no “moral” and “political” right to use the deal to reach its political objectives.

In an interview with IRNA published on Saturday, Korotchenko said that the U.S. has no authority in the UN 2231 resolution, which endorsed the nuclear deal.

Extension of arms embargo on Iran by the U.S. has no legal credibility, the military expert added.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preparing an argument that the U.S. 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.

Under the JCPOA, the arms embargo against Iran expires in October.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Pompeo pretends UNSCR 2231 is independent of the JCPOA, noting that the JCPOA is “PART of 2231”.

In a tweet, Zarif advised Pompeo to read the 2231 resolution.

“JCPOA is PART of 2231. That’s why it's 104 pages—& why he’s not read it. 
2231 for Dummies:
-It would NOT EXIST w/o JCPOA
-US violated it & prevented others from complying
-US has NO standing,” he added in his tweet.

Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, has said that the United States must bear responsibility for abusing the UN Security Council and manipulation of its decisions.

“US must be held to account and bear responsibility, not to be APPEASEMBOLDENED, for its bullying behavior and recurring pattern of wrongful (ab)use of the #UNSC & manipulation of its decisions,” Hamaneh tweeted on May 3.

In another tweet, he said, “US’ invocation of #UNSCR2231 is a travesty, flouting a fundamental principle governing intl relations;’...a party which disowns or doesn't fulfill its own obligations cannot be recognized as retaining the rights which it claims to derive from the relationship’ (#ICJ, 1971).”

NA/PA