United Nations Security Council diplomats should review President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal at a coming high-level meeting in New York, according to a senior Russian diplomat.
“We hope very much aspects linked with the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA will be tackled,” deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said, according to state-run media, using the formal acronym for the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Trump plans to chair a September meeting of the Security Council to discuss “an important regional issue,” according to the U.S. mission to the U.N. That meeting is expected to focus on Iran, but Polyansky’s comments suggest a desire to hijack the forum to fight Trump’s policies. It comes just hours of Russian and German diplomats huddled to discuss their common support for the agreement.
“Both sides stressed the importance of keeping the JCPOA in place,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a readout of a meeting between senior Russian and German officials. “A number of other aspects of arms control and non-proliferation were touched upon.”
Trump decided to renew sanctions on Iran as part of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement. He exited the pact over the objections of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the European Union — the other leading Western parties to the deal. Russia and China also joined the pact. Some of the sanctions have taken effect, but the most forceful measures targeting Iran’s oil industry come into force in November.
“Our focus is on getting as many countries importing Iranian crude down to zero as soon as possible,” Brian Hook, then-State Department’s director of policy planning, told reporters in July. “We are also working with oil market participants, including producers and consumers, to ensure market stability.”
