TEHRAN - Russia’s permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations said on Saturday that the United States’ move to trigger snapback mechanism and return the UN sanctions on Iran go against “elementary common sense” as the U.S. is no longer a party to the JCPOA, the official name for the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“Very impressive resistance in the U.N. Security Council to U.S. attempts to trigger snapback. Member-States refuse to recognise U.S. as a #JCPOA Participant. U.S. claims to go against elementary common sense,” Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday officially informed the UN Security Council it is demanding the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran, insisting that the U.S. has the legal right to “snap back” UN sanctions.

President Donald Trump officially terminated the U.S. participation in the JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed sanctions against Iran.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement published by the European Union’s official website on Thursday that the U.S. cannot be considered to be a participant to the nuclear deal and cannot trigger the snapback mechanism.

“I take note of today’s announcement by the U.S. regarding the so-called UN sanctions ‘snapback mechanism’ under UN Security Council resolution 2231. As I have repeatedly recalled, the U.S. unilaterally ceased participation in the JCPOA by presidential Memorandum on 8 May 2018 and has subsequently not participated in any JCPOA-related activities. It cannot, therefore, be considered to be a JCPOA participant State for the purposes of possible sanctions snapback foreseen by the resolution,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday that the U.S. will never realize its “illegal demand” through the UN Security Council to activate the snapback mechanism.

Khatibzadeh noted that all the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, have rejected the U.S. status to take such action, noting that Washington has become totally isolated.

“All the remaining parties to the JCPOA, three European countries of Germany, France, and England and also Russia and China, have strongly opposed the United States’ illegal and unfounded demand and have informed the president of the Security Council. Other members of the Security Council will adopt similar position in the coming days,” he said.

Thirteen countries out of the 15-member UN Security Council have expressed their opposition to the U.S. bid to reimpose the UN sanctions on Iran, arguing that Washington’s move is void given it is using a process under a nuclear deal that it quit more than two years ago.

According to Reuters, long-time U.S. allies Britain, France, Germany and Belgium as well as China, Russia, Vietnam, Niger, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, South Africa, Indonesia, Estonia, and Tunisia have written letters in opposition.

NA/PA