The US will introduce a Security Council resolution next week to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
WE WILL DO EVERYTHING TO ENSURE ARMS EMBARGO IS EXTENDED
The top diplomat told reporters at the State Department that the measure is “eminently reasonable,” vowing “one way or another we will do the right thing.” “We will ensure the arms embargo is extended,” he said amid opposition from China and Russia, two of the other veto-wielding permanent council members.
Pompeo said there are “nations lining up” to sell Iran weapons that will “destabilize the Middle East, put Israel at risk, put Europe at risk, risk American lives as well. We’re not going to let it happen.”
“The Security Council’s mission is to ensure international peace and security,” said Pompeo. “The council would make an absolute mockery of that mission if it allowed the number state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell weapons freely.”
“We’re deeply aware that snapback is an option that’s available to the United States, and we’re going to do everything within America’s power to ensure that that arms embargo is extended,” he said. “I am confident that we will be successful.”