IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Saturday he cannot take any action on a U.S. declaration that all U.N. sanctions on Iran had been reimposed because “there would appear to be uncertainty” on the issue.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that he triggered a 30-day process at the council leading to the return of U.N. sanctions on Iran on Saturday evening that would also stop a conventional arms embargo on Tehran from expiring on Oct. 18.

But 13 of the 15 Security Council members say Washington’s move is void because Pompeo used a mechanism agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which the United States quit in 2018.

“There would appear to be uncertainty whether or not the process … was indeed initiated and concomitantly whether or not the (sanctions) terminations … continue in effect,” Guterres wrote in a letter to the council, seen by Reuters.

“It is not for the Secretary-General to proceed as if no such uncertainty exists,” he said.

U.N. officials provide administrative and technical support to the Security Council to implement its sanctions regimes and Guterres appoints independent experts to monitor implementation. He said that “pending clarification” of the status of the Iran sanctions, he would not take any action to provide that support.

Meanwhile Iran in a statement rejected the United States’ claim that international sanctions against the Islamic Republic are back in force, warning that it will show a serious reaction if Washington or its regional cronies make any move in line with its anti-Iran threats.

What follows is the full text of the statement released on Sunday, September 20, 2020:

The United States falsely claims that the UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran are back in effect at a time when the Council has basically rejected a demand by the US, as a non-signatory to the JCPOA, to trigger the trend of reinstating the sanctions. Moreover, such a trend never got started in the first place to produce a result today. The US secretary of state himself knows well that his claim regarding the reinstatement of UN Security Council sanctions is groundless and invalid and lacks any legal effect. Therefore, he, using his own notorious method, tries to intimidate other countries by threatening to slap international sanctions on them, which is the best testament to the United States’ admission of failure in its effort at the UN Security Council.

As the Islamic Republic of Iran has reiterated time and again, the US regime is the biggest threat to world peace and security. This reality had never been exposed as much it has today when the US is overtly threatening and intimidating the world and ignores UN Security Council resolutions.

In 2018, when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in breach of clearly stipulated international regulations, and waived any right to use the mechanisms inserted in the accord and in Resolution 2231, it (the US) hoped it would bring Iran to the dilemma of submission or collapse by using the so-called ‘maximum pressure’ strategy.

However, two years on since then, the US is now more isolated than ever in advancing the project of portraying Iran as a security threat. Frustrated at having failed to build a consensus against Iran, the US has turned to bullying and holding the international community to ransom. At a time when almost all members of the UN Security Council have straightforwardly rejected the United States’ ludicrous approach vis-à-vis UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the US regime is, in line with its unilateral and force-oriented policy, threatening to impose sanctions against world countries for their compliance with international regulations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran regards the US secretary of state’s wrathful statements as measures which are only good for domestic political use and which are the result of weakness and disappointment and hearing repeated “No’s” from the international community in recent months as well as back-to-back defeats against Iran’s active diplomacy. Iran recommends the US president not isolate himself and his country at the international level any further by consulting people who are unfamiliar with the global situation.

The approach adopted by the current U.S. regime amounts to a big danger to international peace and security as well as an unprecedented threat to the UN and the Security Council. This time, the US secretary of state has not only ridiculed all principles of international law and the UN Charter, but also challenges the international community officially and openly, and converts his government’s bullying and recalcitrance from behind-the-scenes actions into an openly flagrant move.

The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that if the US makes any move in line with these threats, whether alone or in cahoots with the few cronies of its own, it will be met with serious reaction and will be responsible for all the dangerous consequences of its move.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The World health Organization has sent its experts to Iran to evaluate Iran’s response to the Coronavirus and provide support where there’s a need.

The meeting came as scores of people have died from the coronavirus in Iran and thousands are infected. This as Iran is grappling with another challenge. The U.S. sanctions have made it impossible for Iran to buy any medicine from other countries.

The WHO called on the U.S. to regard the current situation as an exception and exclude the medical industry from the list of its sanctions. The WHO also ensured Iran that it will support the country wherever there’s a deficiency as a result of the sanctions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also says it will “provide all the support” to the Iranian government in its fight against the deadly novel coronavirus, expressing great optimism that the Islamic Republic will succeed in containing the disease.

“We are very optimistic that together we will make excellent progress,” Emergency Director for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Richard Brennan, told journalists in Tehran on Saturday.

He hailed Iran’s great efforts to battle the coronavirus, saying, “We have been impressed by the way that the [Iranian] government and the health workers and other sectors of the society are really working hard to defeat the virus.”

He noted that the WHO team,consisting of colleagues from the world’s health body — the Robert Koch Institute in Germany and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) — have had numerous meetings with Iranian health officials and workers over the past few days.

“We have a tremendous exchange of experiences and information,” Brennan said, adding that the WHO team has “learnt from the Ministry of Health and the health workers in Iran.”

He noted that both sides would share important lessons on ways to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

The WHO official also warned about a campaign of misinformation and propagation and said, “Misinformation makes the job of doctors and nurses so much harder.”

“We also know that one of the biggest enemies in defeating the outbreak is misinformation, rumors and false news. We have to keep the communication accurate and precise about the true realities of the disease,” he emphasized.

He extended his congratulations in particular to the hardworking doctors, nurses and other health workers in laboratories and elsewhere for their really tremendous work.

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According To Iran News, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that Washington would end all sanctions on Iran when Tehran fulfilled necessary conditions.

He did not mention what those conditions would be, however.

Mnuchin’s remarks at Doha Forum 2019 came while Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani has stressed that the lifting of unjust and unilateral sanctions against Iran was the only viable way for the two countries’ to hold talks within the framework of the P5+1.

Rouhani reiterated on December 4 that that negotiations could take place once the US removed its unjust sanctions against Iran, adding that even heads of P5+1 could hold talks in a joint meeting format.

“The moment the US lifts all of its unjust, wrong, and terrorist sanctions on Iran, heads of the P5+1 could immediately gather for a joint meeting,” Rouhani had said.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

French Ambassador to Iran Philippe Thiébaud yesterday met Chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce Mr. Gholam-Hossein Shafei and during the meeting he announced his country is looking for a formula to eliminate the U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran.

During the meeting, Thiebaud pointed to the talks between Iran and France and announced his country’s efforts to eliminate sanctions on Iran to resume economic cooperation.

He emphasized that chambers of commerce of both countries should enhance efforts to strengthen economic ties, adding that the governments’ role is only to ease the way. He went on to say that Iran and France relations through the history have been beyond only economic relations and both sides have had deep cultural and human relations.

He also said the U.S. pullout of the JCPOA and maximizing its pressure was wrong, noting that French government once and again has reiterated that such U.S. measures of sanctions and exercising pressure will bear no fruit.

Thiebaud went on to say that since the U.S. pullout of the JCPOA, French and Iranian governments have continuously been  in talks and all those talks have been aimed at finding a formula to solve sanctions problems and eliminating them.

Reacting to the disappointment about the failure of Europe’s trade mechanism INSTEX, he said he understands well this disappointment but EU is doing its best to get positive result.

The French diplomat stated that one should not forget that the mechanism is the first of its kind and it is very complicated. He added that finding a mechanism to be able to provide necessary sources for its activity is not a simple task and it takes time.

Thiebaud added that INSTEX is a gradual system and one should not expect it to cover all sectors from the beginning.

The diplomat reiterated that France is doing its best to involve more countries in the mechanism and it is to start with those sectors which are not under sanctions like medicines and food which are Europe’s priorities.

He concluded that France is doing its best the mechanism to be devised in a way that after starting operation, it acts efficiently and it does not disappoint the companies.

Meanwhile Shafei, for his part, pointed to the good and long relation between chambers of commerce of both countries, and criticized the sluggish move of Europe in operationalizing the INSTEX.He added that Iran’s Chamber of Commerce has plans to hold educational courses in Iran in collaboration with its French counterpart.

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“In Qatar, we do not believe unilateral sanctions bring positive effects for crises which must be solved through dialogue and dialogue only,” he told a news conference following a meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Qatar’s capital Doha, which was attended by his Iranian counterpart.

The United States has demanded that buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May 1 or face the prospect of sanctions, ending six months of waivers that had allowed Iran’s customers to import limited volumes.

In November, the minister said Doha would continue to deal with Iran, which helped Qatar secure supplies when a Saudi-backed boycott was first imposed in 2017, and that it was ready to mediate between Washington and Tehran.

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