TEHRAN — A ranking MP has urged the Rouhani administration not to falter if the UN arms embargo on Iran is extended.

“The administration should announce the measures it would adopt if the Iran arms embargo is extended,” Mehr on Saturday quoted Mojtaba Zonnour as saying.

Asked what the administration should do in case the embargo is extended, Zonnour said the most important thing is to keep resisting the enemy’s pressure.

“The administration should not react from a position of hesitation,” said Zonnour, who heads the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

He further said the administration should convince the world of Iran’s righteousness and the other side’s wickedness.

The top MP further urged the administration to make the other side pay the price of extending the embargo by declaring what measures it would take if the arms embargo is extended.

“When the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran examine the costs and benefits, they definitely won’t dare to take the aggressive action,” Zonnour remarked.

The United States has stepped up calls for the extension of the UN arms embargo on Iran since April. The embargo is set to expire in October under the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal.

On June 30, the U.S. was rebuked at the UN Security Council meeting, including by the five European countries on the council.

Tehran has firmly rejected Washington’s argument, stating that the U.S. is no longer a party to the nuclear deal ever since it withdrew from the multilateral agreement.

The U.S. abandoned the nuclear deal, officially referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on May 8, 2018, and pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran to force it to negotiate a new deal but to no avail.

Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mouavi said Washington is pressuring the permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council to support the embargo’s extension.

“We knew that the U.S. will spare no efforts in this path and everybody knows how Washington has pressured the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council,” Mousavi said during a press conference.

Iran has told all members of the UN Security Council and its friends that the extension of the arms embargo would be “unacceptable”, he said.

The spokesman said Iranian officials do not think other countries would succumb to the U.S. bullying.

“We hope the U.S. pressure ends,” he said, adding, “Iran is striving to secure its right.”

MH/PA