US President Donald Trump officially directed his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday to seek sanctions on Iran through a UN provision in the nuclear deal from which the White House withdrew in 2018.
“Today I am directing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to notify the UN Security Council that the US intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran,” Mr Trump said .
Moments later, the State Department confirmed reports that Mr Pompeo will travel to New York on Thursday to notify the UN Security Council that the US will initiate the process.
He will meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
“Thirty days after Secretary Pompeo’s notification, a range of UN sanctions will be restored, including the requirement that Iran suspend all enrichment-related activities," the department said.
"This will also extend the 13-year arms embargo on Iran.”
The department called Iran a “leading state sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitism".
The US is justifying its action after the Security Council failed to extend an arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire on October 18.
The UN body last week overwhelmingly rejected a US resolution to extend the embargo with only one member, the Dominican Republic, voting with Washington.
Now the Trump administration wants to activate a provision in the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.
The provision would reimpose sanctions if the council’s members found Iran was in breach of the agreement.
But the US withdrawal from the deal, in which sanctions would be lifted if Tehran curbed its nuclear programme, raising questions about the validity and legality of its complaint.
Even former national security adviser John Bolton, a hawk on Iran, questioned the legality of the US complaint.
“It is not legally applicable,” Mr Bolton told BBC Persian on Tuesday.
He said the US could not challenge Iran’s commitments to the deal when it was no longer a participant.
But with the US holding a power of veto at the Security Council, it can challenge the UN response to its letter 30 days after it submits the complaint.
Mr Pompeo is urging EU partners to join in the US strategy.
On Tuesday, the State Department said that he had called German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
“Secretary Pompeo underscored the need for a unified transatlantic response to hold Iran accountable and ensure the Security Council lives up to its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” the department said.
The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held talks in Germany with Mr Maas on matters including the arms embargo.
Riyadh supports the extension of the UN mechanism in October, while Russia and China have expressed reservations.