“US policy of imposing unilateral sanctions seems to ignore other countries. We are concerned about developments in the US policy of maximum pressure against Iran which can better be termed as maximum suffocation,” Russian Nebenzya said according to a report by Mehr News Agency (MNA).

“Iran is under pressure from all sides. The goal is to change the ruling system or create a situation in which Iran is literally unable to breathe. It’s like putting your knee on someone’s neck. This crisis has been caused by the United States,” said the Russian envoy.

He also expressed Russia’s opposition to US efforts to extend Iran arms embargo.

Despite of unilaterally withdrawing from the nuclear deal in 2018, US has lately sought to urge other signatories of the 2015 historic nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to renew an embargo on the sales of conventional weapons to Iran that will expire under the nuclear deal in October.

Addressing the same event via a videoconference from Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referred to US as an “outlaw bully” and warned the UNSC that giving in to Washington’s pressure threatens to restore the “law of the jungle,” Presstv.com reported.

He stressed, “The international community in general, and the United Nations Security Council, in particular, are facing an important decision.”

“If this council falters again, it will be a generational setback for the cause of multilateralism, and the rule of law,” Zarif warned.

Recalling US mounting pressures against Iran, Zarif wondered how come the UN had come to pick on Iran while “not a single” Council session has been convened to address the US’s egregious violation.

“China supports the IAEA in playing its role in an objective, professional and neutral manner in verifying Iran’s compliance with its safeguards obligations. We are against politicizing its work,” Zhao said at a regular press conference on Monday.

He pointed to an explicit announcement by the IAEA that the “safeguards issue is neither urgent nor poses a proliferation risk” and welcomed Iran’s readiness to resolve issues through dialogue saying, “Under such circumstances, China does not approve of actions that artificially exacerbate tensions and escalate the situation,” Press TV wrote.

He expressed hope that all relevant parties to the international 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will remain calm, exercise restraint, and support the settlement of issues between Iran and the UN nuclear agency through dialogue and cooperation.

“On the Iranian nuclear issue, China’s unwavering aim is to uphold the JCPOA, multilateralism, peace and stability in the Middle East, and the international order based on international law,” the Chinese diplomat said.

He expressed Beijing’s readiness to work closely with the sides in order to find a “political and diplomatic” way to solve issues pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program.

The Board of Governors at the UN’s nuclear agency on Friday passed the anti-Iran resolution, put forward by Britain, France and Germany – the three European signatories to the JCPOA.

The resolution, the first of its kind since 2012, urges Iran to provide the IAEA inspectors with access to two sites that the trio claims may have been used for undeclared nuclear activities in the early 2000s.

Iran rejects any allegations of non-cooperation with the IAEA, insisting that it is prepared to resolve potentially outstanding differences with the IAEA.

Commenting on the E3 foreign ministers’ last week statement on the JCPOA, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman once again stressed the importance of upholding and implementing the nuclear deal as the “only right way” to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Zhao added that Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had recently sent letters to the UN secretary general and the rotating president of the Security Council to emphasize that the JCPOA, endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231, is an “important outcome of multilateral diplomacy and a key element in international nuclear non-proliferation system.”

“Iran’s reduction of compliance is a result of the US maximum pressure. We urge the US to abandon unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’, and return to the right track of observing the JCPOA and the Security Council resolution,” the Chinese diplomat said.

He highlighted the significance of earnestly implementing all provisions in Resolution 2231 and said, “In the meantime, all parties to the JCPOA should take concrete measures to restore the balance of rights and obligations under the agreement.”

He vowed that Beijing would work with the three European parties to the JCPOA and the larger international community to stick to the nuclear agreement and Resolution 2231, uphold multilateralism, and work for the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

In a statement, 240 MPs argued that the IAEA resolution – introduced by France, Germany, and Britain – the three European signatories to a 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) with Iran – explicitly demonstrated the trio’s “excessive demands.”

The Islamic Republic has voluntarily implemented the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allowed the IAEA to conduct the most rigorous inspections of its nuclear sites in the history of the Vienna-based agency, read the statement, Press TV reported.

The lawmakers further complained about the “hypocrisy” of the European trio, saying they devised “the illegal anti-Iran resolution” contrary to their claims to remain committed to the Iran deal and to make efforts to salvage the deal.

The MPs warned that the IAEA resolution clearly indicates that the three European states “have once again fallen into the trap of the United States and the Zionist regime, and joined forces with them in the failed US project of exerting maximum pressure against Iran, hence dealing another blow to international multilateralism.”

Passed by a 25-2 margin with seven abstentions, the IAEA resolution called on Iran to “fully cooperate” with the IAEA and “satisfy the agency’s requests without any further delay,” including by providing “prompt” access to two nuclear sites.

Tehran has rejected allegations of non-cooperation with the IAEA and voiced its preparedness to resolve potentially outstanding differences with the agency.

“Iran’s Parliament strongly condemns the IAEA Board of Governors’ resolution, which was adopted against Iran’s national interests based on a proposal by three European countries, Britain, France, and Germany, under pressure from the US regime and the fake Zionist regime on June 19, 2020,” the statement read, adding that the resolution was “another sign of structural discrimination within the IAEA.”

The lawmakers also expressed their gratitude to China and Russia for voicing their opposition to the biased resolution, which they called “an obvious attempt at political extortion.”

“In addition to expressing gratitude to the states that did not support the move, Parliament considers the nonbinding resolution another sign of the culture dominating the IAEA, which allows nuclear-armed member states not honoring their own NPT commitments to block other states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology.”

The deputies also called for a halt to the implementation of the Additional Protocol considering the failure of other JCPOA parties to live up to their commitments.

“The European pressure policy to, what they call, preserve the JCPOA shows the three European countries have not pursued a constructive approach… and have had the idea that the JCPOA is a tool to pressure Iran into submitting to their unjustified demands,” they said.

“The Parliament is asking the respectful government to stop the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and make supervisions offline,” read the statement.