
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations says Moscow will oppose any attempts by the United States to extend the arms embargo on Iran and reimpose UN sanctions against Tehran.
Vassily Nebenzia’s comments on May 12 made clear that the United States will have difficulty extending the embargo past its expiration in October through the UN Security Council, where Russia has veto power.
The United States is seeking to indefinitely extend the UN embargo on conventional arms sales, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the United States will use all means available to achieve that goal.
A draft UN resolution that has circulated among diplomats would strike the expiration of the arms embargo from the council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between six major powers and Iran, according to U.S. officials and UN diplomats.