N-deal will die forever if arms ban extended: Iran

Tehran, May 3 (IANS) Iran’s top security official on Sunday warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will “die forever” if a UN arms embargo against the Islamic Republic was extended.

“The JCPOA will die forever by circumventing UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and continuing Iran’s illegal weapons sanctions,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani tweeted on Sunday.

“Sanctions’ virus is the US tool for survival of its declining hegemony,” he said.

Shamkhani also urged the European partners to the deal for their action in the face of US pressures, adding that “what will EU do: save dignity and support multilateralism or accept humiliation and help unilateralism?”, reports Xinhua news agency.

This development comes after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington was considering “every possibility” to renew a UN Security Council ban on selling conventional arms to Iran which will end in six months’ time.

Iranian government on Saturday threatened that in case the arms embargo was extended, it will trigger a “harsh” response from the country.

–IANS

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