Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov

The Russian deputy foreign minister has expressed Moscow's objection to the extension of the United Nations Security Council arms embargo against Iran.

Iran Press/Europe: Restrictions on Iran's import and export of arms expire next year and it is not possible to renew them, chief nuclear negotiator Sergei Ryabkov said in comments published by the Interfax news agency on Thursday.

Under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the US unilaterally pulled out of last year, a UN ban on weapons sales to Tehran will end in October 2020.

Saying the calls by US officials on the extension of the embargo is void of a principle in the foreign policy, he added: We are not ready to bow to the US demands whenever they want so.

As the expiration of the arms embargo on Iran based on the nuclear deal and UNSC Resolution 2231 gets closer, the White House is getting more nervous and American authorities are doing their utmost to make the restrictions permanent.

Last October, US special envoy to Iran Brian Hook told a congressional hearing on US-Iran policy that Washington wants the UNSC to renew the Iranian arms embargo.

One of the issues used by the United States to withdraw from the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries was the time span of the UN arms embargo on Iran. The measure covers all weapons sales and "related material" to Iran. 

Last August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed concern that a UNSC meeting on Middle East peace and security challenges that the resolution restricting weapons sales to Iran is due to end in October 2020.

Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi responded to Pompeo's comments and slammed the United States for causing insecurity and instability with its military presence and “unbridled flow of American weaponry into this region, which has turned it into a powder keg.”

Despite all US efforts, the UN Security Council has not, and is unlikely to take any action on Iran. Russia and China - which are UNSC's veto-yielding powers along with the United States, France and Britain - are likely to reject new anti-Iran draft resolutions.

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