U.S. efforts to extend Iran arms embargo met with Russian pushback

NEW YORK – The U.S administration has called for the extension of the arms embargo against Iran months before it is set to expire in October. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged all members of U.N. Security Council during a virtual meeting of the to extend the embargo. “Don’t just take it from me or from the United States,” said Pompeo, “listen to countries in the region. From Israel to the Gulf, countries in the Middle East – who are most exposed to Iran’s predations – are speaking with a single voice: Extend the arms embargo.”

He also criticized the U.S.’s maximum pressure campaign of sanctions, saying it created a situation “where Iran literally wouldn’t be able to breathe,” referencing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody that sparked a nationwide debate over racial injustice in the U.S.

However, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, described this approach as a policy of strangulation. The U.S. stance of maximum pressure, said Nebenzya, would create a situation “where Iran literally wouldn’t be able to breathe,” referencing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody that sparked a nationwide debate over racial injustice in the U.S.

“Iran is being deliberately squeezed from all directions. The task is really to achieve regime change or create a situation where Iran literally wouldn’t be able to breathe,” Nebenzya said. “This is like putting a knee to one’s neck.”

Underscoring the importance of the arms embargo on Iran to Washington, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said in a statement to an Israeli television channel that the use of military force against Tehran, as a means of preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons, is one of the options taken by U.S. Administration.