TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Tehran is very hopeful that the United States will again face a defeat in its attempts at the UN Security Council to extend arms embargo on Iran.

“The United States has presented a draft resolution to violate the 2231 resolution. We are very hopeful that the United States will face failure and will feel the defeat and see its isolation,” Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting.

“However, our position is clear. If such a resolution which is against a part of the 2231 resolution is approved in the United Nations, it means a clear violation of the JCPOA [the 2015 nuclear deal] and those who approve it will be responsible for the consequences.”

Rouhani noted that the Trump administration feels ashamed to admit it has taken a wrong path toward Iran.

He added Washington has failed politically in its illegal moves against Iran.

“Until today, the United States has failed politically, and it will fail again. The United States cannot attract and convince the public opinion, and the world now feels that Iran is a country that observes law and morality and that it is committed to its obligations,” Rouhani stated.

The arms embargo on Iran is set to end on October 18 under the JCPOA, which the U.S. quit in 2018. Washington, however, has put forward a resolution to extend the ban.

‘Iran’s defense power benefits the entire region’

Rouhani also said that Iran’s defense power and arms are not a threat to the neighboring countries and instead they are beneficial to the whole region.

“We use our arms and capabilities to defend ourselves against (possible) aggression of foreigners. Our weapon is not against you, our power is not against you. Those who loot your properties and sell you weapons to bombard your neighbors and annihilate the Yemenis are harmful to you,” the Iranian president asserted in an open reference to the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council’s statement in calling for extension of arms embargo on Iran.

In a letter to the Security Council sent Saturday and obtained by Bloomberg News, the PGCC called on the Security Council to extend the embargo and “further impose any additional measures necessary to prevent the destabilizing proliferation of Iranian weapons, such as a targeted asset freeze and travel ban on individuals involved in the supply, sale or transfer of arms or related materiel to or from Iran.”

Presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi said on Tuesday that the PGCC should not obey the U.S. whose presence in the region has brought nothing except instability.

“Protecting security and interests of the regional nations depends on trust building and intra-regional cooperation. The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council should not obey the United States whose illegitimate presence in the region has had nothing but insecurity and instability,” Vaezi wrote in a tweet.

He added, “Recent action by this council causes distrust and will be harmful to itself.”

NA/PA