A Letter To UN On US’ Violation Of Iran International Agreement – OpEd

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This is an open letter to UN Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres regarding US’ unlawful exit from the Iran nuclear agreement and the re-imposition of nuclear-related sanctions in direct violation of the agreement as well as the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (July, 2015).

Whereas Mr. Guterres has rightly expressed his “concerns” over US President Trump’s fateful decision and has urged the international community to fulfill their obligations under the agreement known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), it is important to take the necessary follow-up action and to bring this crucial matter before the Security Council, in light of the Secretary General’s own confirmation that Iran has fully complied with its obligations under the JCPOA.

US’ unilateral imposition of sanctions is unlawful and illegitimate and risks international peace and security. There is absolutely no justification for these new sanctions and, in fact, Mr. Trump himself failed to provide any justification in his televised address to the world, other than citing a dubious Israeli claim about past Iranian nuclear behavior as the only evidence, when in fact it is nothing short of disinformation calculated to provide a timely rationale for US withdrawal from the JCPOA. Israel’s claim has been rebuked by the IAEA, which has responded by stating that it possesses no credible information of any Iranian nuclear-weapon related activity.

UNSC 2231 is incumbent on all member states including the US, which must honor its agreement under the terms of the JCPOA and to refrain from interfering in Iran’s trade relations with other nations. US’ bullying tactic vis-a-vis Iran is a clear affront to the UN Charter and an insult at the world’s civilized norms and principles that dictate harmony among nations instead of a unilateral “strategy of tensions,” to paraphrase French President Emmanuel Macron’s description of US’s approach toward Iran.

Henceforth, the UN as a whole and the Security Council in particular has a crucial role to play in safeguarding an international agreement that supports the core values of the UN with respect to peaceful settlement of conflicts. Failure is simply not an option and a recipe for disaster. The White House ‘war party’ is openly questing for direct confrontation with Iran, seeking to wreak more havoc on the Middle East in order to protect the American hegemony (in decline), and it is up to the international community how to respond: either act passively and allow the dark scenario of another calamitous war engulf the region that has suffered so deeply as a result of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction, or reaffirm the international norms by firmly and resolutely standing up to the US war designs against Iran.

Notwithstanding the disastrous results of US’ military interventionism and the explicit commitment of the UN in defense of the JCPOA, all measures at UN’s disposal to prevent the complete collapse of the JCPOA, which could prove to be a prelude for another war in the Middle East, must be undertaken immediately, without allowing the passage of time and the likely sabotage of such efforts by the United States and its regional allies.

Undoubtedly, this represents a litmus test of UN’s leadership and ability to put into practice the UN doctrine of war-preemption, which will hopefully be successfully put into practice by Mr. Guterres and other high UN officials, otherwise UN’s record will be marred by yet another inglorious defeat.

Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, Ph.D. is an Iranian-American political scientist and author specializing in Iran’s foreign and nuclear affairs, and author of several books.

One thought on “A Letter To UN On US’ Violation Of Iran International Agreement – OpEd

  • May 10, 2018 at 6:59 pm
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    Iran need to make brotherly relationship with all Muslim countries including moroco , soudI Arabia. Or fall as victim like Afghanistan Iraq and Syria .

    Reply

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