Donald Trump announced on Wednesday August 19 that the United States would activate a controversial procedure at the United Nations to restore all international sanctions against Iran.

"Today, I asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to notify the UN Security Council that the United States intends to reinstate virtually all UN sanctions against Iran which have hitherto been suspended," asserted the American president.

The US State Department has also indicated that Mike Pompeo will travel to New York on Thursday and Friday to notify the Security Council of the start of the so-called "snapback" procedure, a mechanism built into the 2015 agreement allowing a return. automatic to the international sanctions regime against Tehran that previously prevailed.

"Chaos, blood and terror"

Most of the other members of the Council, however, dispute that Washington is empowered to activate this process, since Donald Trump left this agreement in 2018.

The Republican billionaire once again described as "disastrous" the text supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb, considering that it was the "product of the failure of foreign policy" of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama and his vice-president Joe Biden, who will face him in November in the race for the White House.

According to the Trump administration, the lifting of sanctions decided in 2015 in exchange for Iranian nuclear commitments has enabled the Islamic Republic to rake in tens of billions of dollars used to spread "chaos, blood and terror" in the country. Middle East and all over the world.

Isolated American diplomacy

"In the first month following my victory in the election, Iran will come and ask us for an agreement very quickly because they are not doing very well", assured Donald Trump at a press conference.

The United States has already reinstated, and even toughened, its own bilateral sanctions against Tehran. In response, Iran has started to withdraw from the agreement, notably by increasing its stock of enriched uranium.

Washington now wants the rest of the world, including the other signatories to the agreement (China, Russia, France, United Kingdom and Germany) who are trying by all means to save it, to reinstate all international sanctions. Isolated as ever on this issue, US diplomacy failed last week to obtain an extension of the arms embargo against Iran before the Security Council.

With AFP and Reuters

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