Iran Press/America: US President Donald Trump announced on Friday (Apr 26) that the country would not abide by a UN treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it 'misguided' and an encroachment on US sovereignty, according to CNN.
The US Senate never ratified the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it. Trump said he was revoking his predecessor's signature.
"We will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone," Trump said in a speech to the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis. "We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom," he said, referring to the constitutional right to bear arms.
"And that is why my administration will never ratify the UN arms trade treaty," Trump added.
The treaty, which entered into effect in December 2014, seeks to regulate the flow of weapons into conflict zones.
It requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians.
UN defends Arms Trade Treaty
Asked about Trump's announcement, the United Nations praised the arms trade treaty as a 'landmark achievement' in efforts to ensure responsibility in international arms transfers.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the ATT is "the only global instrument aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the international arms trade."
He said the treaty was "particularly important in present times when we witness growing international tensions and renewed interest in expanding and modernizing arsenals."
In a statement, the White House said the treaty "fails to truly address the problem of irresponsible arms transfers, while providing a platform for those who would seek to constrain our ability to sell arms to our allies and partners."
It also claimed that some groups are trying to use the treaty to overturn "sovereign national decisions" on arms exports - pointing to one effort to block the British government's sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Global reactions to Trump's decision
Following Trump’s decision, international human rights groups immediately reacted, denouncing the move.
Abby Maxman, the president of Oxfam America, an international anti-poverty group, said that President Trump is sending a clear message to civilians caught in the crossfire: 'we don’t care.'
Adotei Akwei of Amnesty International USA also said in a statement: "With this announcement, the Trump administration will re-open the floodgates for arms sales with weakened human rights criteria."
Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to Trump’s move on Twitter, saying, it "undermines our national security and makes for a more dangerous world.
Around 100 countries have officially signed the treaty so far, and another 29, including the US, have signed it, but not yet formally joined.
Trump's administration's withdrawals
Since taking the office in January 2017, Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn unilaterally from several key global treaties to which the US was a signatory.
Last January, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted humorously to the US and Israel's decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), saying: "After JCPOA, NAFTA, TPP, Climate Convention & ..., the Trump regime along with the Israeli regime, today officially withdrew from UNESCO. Is anything left for the Trump Administration and its client regime to withdraw from? Perhaps from planet Earth altogether?”, Zarif tweeted. 208/211/101
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