WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would invoke the "snapback" mechanism against Iran, seeking to restore all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Tehran.
"Today, I am directing the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to notify the UN Security Council that the United States intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran," Trump said at a White House briefing.
U.S. State Department said in a Wednesday statement that Pompeo would travel to New York City Thursday and Friday to notify the Security Council that the United States would initiate the process to restore UN sanctions on Iran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier in the day vowed continued resistance against the U.S. sanctions that would eventually "break and go away."
The U.S. move came after its failed and isolated attempt last Friday in the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo against Iran.
According to Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, the United States is no longer a participant in the Iran nuclear deal and therefore ineligible to demand the Security Council invoke a snapback.
Foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany also noted in June that they would not support any unilateral attempt to trigger UN sanctions snapback.
Under Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, the arms embargo against Iran expires on Oct. 18, 2020. Tehran said it would not accept a renewal of the embargo.
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