Live - Western countries win UN vote to advance Iran sanctions 'snapback'

Summary

Iran's foreign ministry in a statement condemned the UN Security Council's vote against lifting sanctions on the country, vowing an appropriate response to "any unlawful action".
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will meet his European counterparts in New York next week, Tehran's UN envoy said, adding that the door to diplomacy is still open.
The UN decision means all pre-2015 UN sanctions on Iran will automatically return once the 30-day snapback period ends on September 28, unless the Security Council takes further action.
A UN Security Council resolution drafted by South Korea that could permanently lift UN sanctions was not adopted after nine member states voted against it.
US envoy to the United Nations Dorothea Shea said, absent any further UN Security Council action, the vote means international sanctions will be re-imposed on Iran next month.
The UN Security Council had gathered on Friday morning to vote on a draft resolution concerning the snapback of sanctions on Iran.
The resolution drafted by South Korea, the UNSC president, is part of a process initiated after Britain, France and Germany declared Iran in 'significant non-performance' of a 2015 nuclear deal.

1 hour ago

Iran must develop atomic bomb if UN sanctions restored, senior MP says

“The only way to preserve Iran’s territorial integrity and national security is to acquire nuclear weapons,” said a member of the parliament’s presiding board.

“Withdrawing from the NPT, adopting a policy of ambiguity and ultimately testing the atomic bomb is the only option that can spare Iran the fate of Iraq and Libya,” said Ahmad Naderi.

“Experience has shown that countries without nuclear deterrence eventually become victims of invasion or regime change. The time has come to make hard but necessary decisions.”

9 hours ago

Senior lawmaker dismisses snapback as propaganda, urges calm at home

Abbas Goudarzi, the spokesperson for the Iranian parliament's presiding board, called the looming snapback of UN sanctions on Iran "a propaganda tactic to pressure public opinion," urging Iranian authorities to "not let these exaggerations become a tool of internal pressure."

9 hours ago

Iranian official says UN sanctions won’t affect oil and trade

Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, head of the Economic Commission of Iran’s Expediency Council, said the UN sanctions only target Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

“They won’t impact trade, oil, or essential goods, serving merely as a means of psychological pressure,” Pour-Ebrahimi said.

10 hours ago

Khamenei-linked newspaper says Iran should leave NPT

The ultra-hardline Kayhan newspaper, which is linked to the office of Iran's Supreme Leader, dismissed the UN Security Council’s decision, and called for Tehran's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in response to the looming sanctions snapback.

"The snapback mechanism does not change anything in practice, since current US sanctions are far more severe than the UN Security Council resolutions," the newspaper added.

10 hours ago

Iranian MP downplays impact of UN sanctions snapback

Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani, a senior member of Iran’s parliament, said the looming snapback of UN sanctions will bring no new sanctions or significant economic impact.

“Europe is waging psychological warfare to create a neither war nor peace scenario, but Iranian people will remain steadfast and unfazed,” he said.

10 hours ago

Iran says sanctions snapback will halt Cairo deal with IAEA

With just one week left before UN sanctions are set to snap back on September 28, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned that the move would derail a recent agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog, signed in Cairo.

“If no diplomatic action takes place, in one week — by the end of September 27 — these sanctions will return, and the agreement Iran reached with the IAEA in Cairo will certainly be halted," he told the state TV.

"Foreign Minister Araghchi also stressed on the very day this agreement was signed that if any hostile action is taken against Iran, including activation of the snapback, the deal will be considered terminated.”

11 hours ago

South Korea convened Friday vote under Western pressure - Axios

The United States, France, and Britain pressed South Korea, the rotating chair of the UN Security Council, to convene the vote on Friday, before the beginning of UN General Assembly high-level week on Monday, Axios reported citing European diplomats and US officials.

13 hours ago

Iranian officials urged to prepare for snapback's psychological impact

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi in an interview with the state TV called on fellow Iranian authorities to prepare for the psychological impact of the snapback of UN sanctions on September 28.

13 hours ago

Iran vows appropriate response to 'unlawful' sanctions move

"Today’s action by the three European countries in the UN Security Council, aimed at completing the process of reinstating terminated resolutions, is unlawful, unjustified, and provocative, and severely undermines ongoing diplomatic efforts," Iran's foreign ministry said.

"Today’s move ... carried out without consensus and despite serious opposition from several Council members, further undermines the credibility of the Security Council," it added in a statement.

"(Iran) reserves the right to respond appropriately to any unlawful action," it added, without elaborating.

14 hours ago

Iran will decide with whom to engage, UN envoy says

"It will be Iran, not adversaries, who decide with whom and on what basis to engage," the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the UN said after Western countries urged Tehran to engage with the United States and the UN nuclear watchdog to avoid the snapback of sanctions.

1 hour ago

Iran must develop atomic bomb if UN sanctions restored, senior MP says

“The only way to preserve Iran’s territorial integrity and national security is to acquire nuclear weapons,” said a member of the parliament’s presiding board.

“Withdrawing from the NPT, adopting a policy of ambiguity and ultimately testing the atomic bomb is the only option that can spare Iran the fate of Iraq and Libya,” said Ahmad Naderi.

“Experience has shown that countries without nuclear deterrence eventually become victims of invasion or regime change. The time has come to make hard but necessary decisions.”

9 hours ago

Senior lawmaker dismisses snapback as propaganda, urges calm at home

9 hours ago

Iranian official says UN sanctions won’t affect oil and trade

Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, head of the Economic Commission of Iran’s Expediency Council, said the UN sanctions only target Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

“They won’t impact trade, oil, or essential goods, serving merely as a means of psychological pressure,” Pour-Ebrahimi said.

10 hours ago

Khamenei-linked newspaper says Iran should leave NPT

"The snapback mechanism does not change anything in practice, since current US sanctions are far more severe than the UN Security Council resolutions," the newspaper added.

10 hours ago

Iranian MP downplays impact of UN sanctions snapback

Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani, a senior member of Iran’s parliament, said the looming snapback of UN sanctions will bring no new sanctions or significant economic impact.

“Europe is waging psychological warfare to create a neither war nor peace scenario, but Iranian people will remain steadfast and unfazed,” he said.

10 hours ago

Iran says sanctions snapback will halt Cairo deal with IAEA

11 hours ago

South Korea convened Friday vote under Western pressure - Axios

13 hours ago

Iranian officials urged to prepare for snapback's psychological impact

13 hours ago

Iran vows appropriate response to 'unlawful' sanctions move

"Today’s move ... carried out without consensus and despite serious opposition from several Council members, further undermines the credibility of the Security Council," it added in a statement.

"(Iran) reserves the right to respond appropriately to any unlawful action," it added, without elaborating.

14 hours ago