TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that the United States is not in a position to trigger the snapback mechanism which returns all the UN sanctions on Iran.

“From legal point of view, the United States has no status to use snapback mechanism. Three European allies of the United States had announced clearly in the previous session of the United Nations Security Council that the United States cannot apply this mechanism,” Zarif told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

He noted that China and Russia have opposed the U.S. move from the very beginning.

Zarif added that the U.S. action in triggering the snapback mechanism “has no legal credibility”.

The U.S. has prepared a new UN resolution to extend an arms embargo due to expire in October.

The new proposed resolution comprised four paragraphs in place of the earlier 13-page draft circulated among members.

Zarif said Washington does not respect the UN’s “wisdom”.

The United States has stepped up calls for the extension of UN arms embargo on Iran since April.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened that it may seek to trigger a snapback of all sanctions on Iran if attempts to extend the arms embargo fail.

Britain, France and Germany, three countries party to the nuclear deal, said on June 19 they would not back U.S. efforts to unilaterally trigger the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran.

‘Trump had more than three years to reach an agreement with Iran’

Zarif also said that U.S. President Donald Trump had three years and a half to reach an agreement with Iran and now he cannot do so in a few weeks.

“Obviously, Trump has received wrong advices,” the chief diplomat remarked.

On Sunday, Trump said he will “have a deal” with Iran a month after possible victory in the presidential election.

The Republican nominee, who is set to face former Vice President Joe Biden in November, made the claim at a campaign fundraiser in the state of New Jersey.

“When we win, we will have a deal within four weeks,” Trump was cited as saying by several media outlets.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday that Trump had four years of time to start a successful diplomacy with Iran by adopting a right and legal path.

“He not only did not do that, but made the worst mistakes in the past decades,” Rabiei said during a press conference.

He said, “If Trump be serious about making up for past mistakes, we will welcome it. However, it does not seem that his claims be anything more than gaining votes.”

NA/PA