Iran’s Rouhani: US defeat at UNSC shows Trump’s low regard internationally

President Hassan Rouhani has highlighted Washington’s failure in its unlawful attempt at the UN Security Council to extend a UN arms ban on Iran, saying the meeting once again put on display another American political defeat for the world to see.

“Over the past three and a half years and ever since the new US administration [of President Donald Trump] took office, we have been witnessing lawlessness in addition to illegal and inhumane acts against the Islamic Republic,” Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

The Americans, he added, may imagine that they have made some gains in their stepped-up economic pressure campaign against Iran, but “they have certainly failed politically, legally and morally on numerous occasions during the past three and a half years.”

“Yesterday, they suffered another defeat,” said Rouhani referring to the Security Council session, where the US was sharply criticized for its push to have the UNSC extend the arms ban on Iran, which is set to expire in October under a 2015 nuclear deal endorsed by the Council’s Resolution 2231.

At the event, the US was reminded by other UNSC members that it was no longer a party to the Iran deal — officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — and could not resort to the related resolution to keep the arms ban in place.

“The Americans have suffered two major political setbacks in recent weeks: One concerns a draft resolution against Iran [to extend the arms embargo], which all Security Council member states — excluding the US — have opposed to this day.”

Rouhani said the UNSC meeting “once again showed another American political defeat against the Islamic Republic.”

The second one happened “yesterday at the Security Council, where all 14 other members of the body, except for the US, praised and supported the JCPOA,” despite Washington’s attempts to force others into violating the deal, he added.

The Iranian president went on to say that Tehran will meet all its obligations under the nuclear agreement provided that the remaining sides do the same thing.

He further criticized the European signatories to the Iran deal — France, Britain and Germany — for failing to keep up their end of the bargain following Washington’s exit from the JCPOA, which prompted Tehran to take a set of retaliatory measures.

“We waited for a whole year and remained committed to all of our obligations, but they did not do anything. In the second year, we gradually took five steps away from the deal. Again, they did not do anything,” Rouhani argued.

If the remaining signatories “meet all their obligations tomorrow, Iran will follow suit. Iran has always adhered to its political, legal and moral obligations throughout history, especially after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“The Americans have so far only managed to damage the JCPOA economically … But [they should know that] the Islamic Republic will not stand idle if they move to undermine the political [achievements] of the nuclear deal, and will deliver a decisive response,” Rouhani pointed out.