Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the UN Security Council. AP
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the UN Security Council. AP
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the UN Security Council. AP
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the UN Security Council. AP

UN security council rejects US call to restore all Iran sanctions


  • English
  • Arabic

The president of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday rejected the US Trump administration’s demand to restore all UN sanctions on Iran, a move that drew an angry rebuke from the US ambassador who accused opponents of supporting “terrorists”.

Indonesia’s ambassador to the UN, Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country currently holds the rotating council presidency, made the announcement in response to requests from Russia and China to disclose results of his polling of the views of all 15 council members on the US action.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted last Thursday that the US has the legal right to “snap back” UN sanctions, even though President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers that was endorsed by the UN Security Council.

All the council members, except the Dominican Republic, had informed the council president that the US administration’s action was illegal because Mr Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2018.

Mr Djani told members at the end of a virtual meeting on the Middle East on Tuesday that there was no general agreement among council members.

“Having contacted the members and received letters from many member countries it is clear to me that there is one member which has a particular position on the issues, while there are significant numbers of members who have contesting views,” he said.

“In my view there is no consensus in the council,” Mr Djani said. “Thus, the president is not in the position to take further action.”

That means the UN’s most powerful body, at least during Indonesia’s presidency, is not going to take up the US demand.

Niger takes over the council presidency in September, and its ambassador also sent a joint letter with South Africa, Tunisia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines calling the US “ineligible” to trigger “snap back” because it is not a party to the JCPOA. So it is likely to ignore the U.S. demand as well.

The US Mission to the UN later issued a statement saying the US “is on firm legal ground to initiate the restoration of sanctions” under the Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal.

“The fact that some council members expressed disagreement with our legal position in an informal (virtual meeting) does not have any legal effect,” the mission said.

Mr Pompeo came to the United Nations after the Security Council resoundingly rejected a US resolution to indefinitely extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire October 18. Only the Dominican Republic supported the United States.

US Ambassador Kelly Craft on Tuesday repeated Mr Pompeo’s message: “The United States will never allow the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to freely buy and sell planes, tanks, missiles, and other kinds of conventional weapons … (or) to have a nuclear weapon.”

Ms Craft accused the council of lacking “courage and moral clarity,” and accused Iran of defying the arms embargo and “fomenting conflict and murder throughout the world as it supplies weapons to proxy militias and terrorist groups”.

She said it’s Russia and China who “revel in this council’s dysfunction and failure,” Iran “that celebrates its newfound leverage over the free nations of the world” and Hezbollah, the Houthis and Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela that welcome the possibility of new Iranian weapons and support. She also criticised European nations for opposing “snap back”.

“The Trump administration has no fear in standing in limited company in this matter in light of the unmistakable truth in guiding our actions,” she said. “I only regret that the other members of this council have lost their way and now find themselves standing in the company of terrorists.”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the council president’s decision “a prudent step,” saying virtually the entire council “confirmed the paramount need to preserve the JCPOA,” which he called important for the entire international community, including the United States.

“I hope that the United States would be able to finally realise it, and not … pursue this path which is not only illegal but simply will not lead to achieving the result that was envisaged by the United States,” he said.

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun called Mr Djani’s conclusion “the right step towards the right direction”.

Mr Zhang rejected Ms Craft’s accusations against China, saying “once again they are trying to turn black white, and once again I can assure you that their attempt will never succeed.” He said Beijing is determination to defend multilateralism, the JCPOA and Mideast peace, “whatever the United States says”.

France’s deputy UN ambassador Anne Gueguen said 13 of the 15 council members, including the three European nations still party to the JCPOA, agree the US is no longer part of the deal and therefore its notification of “snap back” has no effect.

She said the Europeans – France, Britain and Germany – believe that “systematic Iranian non-compliance with its JCPOA commitments” should be addressed through talks, initially in Vienna on September 1 and through a dispute resolution mechanism in the nuclear deal.

“At the same time, we have serious concerns about the implications for regional security presented by the scheduled expiry of the UN conventional arms embargo, which were also raised by several countries from the region and other UN Security Council members,” she said.

Ms Gueguen said the three European parties are willing to work with council members including the other JCPOA participants, Russia and China, “to seek a realistic path forward that could secure the support of the council”.

Iran’s UN Mission said the council’s deliberations “showed once more the US’s isolation on the JCPOA” and called Mr Pompeo’s letter “null and void,” with no legal standing,” and “thus completely inadmissible.’’

“Iran trusts that the council members will continue preventing that country from undermining the UN, including the Security Council,” the mission statement said.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

if you go

The flights
The closest international airport to the TMB trail is Geneva (just over an hour’s drive from the French ski town of Chamonix where most people start and end the walk). Direct flights from the UAE to Geneva are available with Etihad and Emirates from about Dh2,790 including taxes.

The trek
The Tour du Mont Blanc takes about 10 to 14 days to complete if walked in its entirety, but by using the services of a tour operator such as Raw Travel, a shorter “highlights” version allows you to complete the best of the route in a week, from Dh6,750 per person. The trails are blocked by snow from about late October to early May. Most people walk in July and August, but be warned that trails are often uncomfortably busy at this time and it can be very hot. The prime months are June and September.

 

 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Fast%20X
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Louis%20Leterrier%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Michelle%20Rodriguez%2C%20Jason%20Statham%2C%20Tyrese%20Gibson%2C%20Ludacris%2C%20Jason%20Momoa%2C%20John%20Cena%2C%20Jordana%20Brewster%2C%20Nathalie%20Emmanuel%2C%20Sung%20Kang%2C%20Brie%20Larson%2C%20Helen%20Mirren%20and%20Charlize%20Theron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog

Favourite pet: cats. She has two: Eva and Bito

Favourite city: Cape Town, South Africa

Hobby: Running. "I like to think I’m artsy but I’m not".

Favourite move: Romantic comedies, specifically Return to me. "I cry every time".

Favourite spot in Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat beach

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

MATCH INFO

Manchester United v Everton
Where:
Old Trafford, Manchester
When: Sunday, kick-off 7pm (UAE)
How to watch: Live on BeIN Sports 11HD

Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Bahrain%20GP
%3Cp%3EFriday%20qualifying%3A%207pm%20(8pm%20UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ESaturday%20race%3A%207pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETV%3A%20BeIN%20Sports%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani  (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)              

2014 Lia Saad  (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

Key products and UAE prices

iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229

iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649

iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179

Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law