The Russian regime said on Wednesday that it does not recognize the reposition of the UN sanctions against Iran. The statement was made by the Russian ambassador in the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, at a news conference at the Russian presidency of the UN Security Council in October.
“We will live in two parallel realities, because for some” snapback “happened, for us not,” said the diplomat, according to information from the agency Reuters.
Moscow’s position contrasts with the European decision announced on Monday (29), when the European Union Council reported that he reimpted restrictive measures against Tehran. Sanctions include freezing assets of Iranian authorities and institutions, prohibition of oil and gas imports, restrictions on the financial sector and blockade to access Iranian load flights to European Union airports.
According to the European statement, the decision was made after France, Germany and the United Kingdom (E3) activate the snapback mechanism provided for in the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Global Joint Action Plan (JCPOA). The procedure was justified by Iran’s “significant non -compliance” regarding its nuclear commitments. As there was no consensus to extend the suspension of sanctions on the Security Council, the restriction regime was automatically restored.
In the note, the EU council stressed that the measures include the ban on the sale of equipment to the Iranian energy sector, as well as the resumption of freezing the Central Bank of Iran and the country’s commercial banks. The block also determined the impediment of maintenance of Iranian aircraft and vessels that carry prohibited materials.
The head of the European Union diplomacy, which coordinates the joint commission of the nuclear agreement, said in a statement that “the return of nuclear sanctions and restrictions should not be the end of diplomacy with Iran.” She argued that the only lasting way out of the nuclear issue is the trading route, while charging Tehran the immediate resumption of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA).
The 2015 nuclear agreement was signed between Iran and global powers, including the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, with the aim of ensuring that the Iranian program had exclusively peaceful purposes. Resolution 2231 of the Security Council, which endorsed the pact, provided for the gradual survey of sanctions. Now, with Snapback, the restriction regime that had been suspended since 2016 again.
