China disagree US extension of Iran arms embargo

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the country is in disagreement with the US on the extension of the arms embargo against Iran in the United Nations Security Council.

Iran Press/Asia: Wang Wenbin said at his regular press conference on Thursday that China firmly upholds the authority of the Security Council Resolution 2231 and the efficacy of the JCPOA.

He also added that all the provisions of Resolution 2231, including the relevant arrangements with regard to an arms embargo, should be implemented in earnest.

Wang Wenbin went on to say that China will continue to work with relevant parties and the international community to maintain the JCPOA and the Security Council Resolution, uphold multilateralism and promote the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Trump pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018 and has steadily reimposed US sanctions on Iran.

After the US scrapping the deal on May 8, 2018, UK, France, and Germany promised Iran to ensure the country's economic interests, but the E3 countries failed to keep the deal under US pressure. With the US unilateral withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions on Iran and as the European side failed to implement its obligations toward Iran, Tehran started incremental reduction of its commitments under the nuclear agreement, a year later on May 8, 2019. Iran has already taken 4 scaling back steps toward the JCPOA under the articles 26 and 36 of the deal.

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Under Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, if the other parties fail to comply with their obligations, Iran has the right to suspend its obligations in whole or in part.

Reducing Iran's commitments is through four steps includes: Raising its uranium enrichment rate to 3.67 percent, increasing its uranium reserves, stopping all its R&D commitments, and starting uranium enrichment and reprocessing at Fordow's nuclear facilities.

The remaining participants in the 2015 nuclear deal have said the US no longer has the standing to invoke snapback.

Under the nuclear deal, the UN arms embargo against Iran will expire Oct. 18. For several months, Pompeo and other US officials have been lobbying for the indefinite extension of the embargo, claiming that its expiration would allow Iran to import weapons at will and further destabilize the Middle East.

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