TLTP
NEW YORK CITY
Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, has urged the Security Council to “very carefully” consider extending its arms embargo on Iran.
The embargo is due to expire in October, a date written into UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed and helped implement the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Extending the ban is “the right (and) cautious thing to do, and the minimum response that can be expected from the world community (to Iran’s) actions and activities,” said Al-Mouallimi.
The Saudi envoy condemned the actions of Iran and said the Kingdom has constantly brought to the attention of the Security Council “the grave violations that Iran has been committing (by supporting) the Houthi militias in Yemen in launching numerous attacks against civilian targets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, contrary to the provisions of Security Council Resolutions 2231 and 2216,” which prohibit the supply of arms to the Houthis.
Al-Mouallimi said the recent attacks in the Arabian Gulf show that Iran poses “an ongoing threat,” adding: “We have maintained a high degree of self-restraint in the face of all these provocations and attacks, and we will continue to do so as much as possible.”
He said that during a recent visit to Riyadh, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook reiterated the message of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned that lifting the arms embargo would give Iran a license to continue its illegal actions.
Noting that an extension of the ban is in the interests of both the US and Saudi Arabia, Al-Mouallimi added: “What the US is asking us to do is make our voice heard in various circles and we’re trying to do that as much as we can.”
He acknowledged that it might be difficult to persuade Security Council permanent members Russia and China to approve an extension of the embargo, given their views on Iran and the region.
“(Russia and China) both expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia after the attacks on its territory, so we hope we can build on that to demonstrate that the only way to (condemn those attacks) is to maintain the current arms embargo against Iran,” said Al-Mouallimi.
“We respect (Russia’s and China’s) protection of their interests in the region but we think that these interests will be better preserved and promoted by stability and peace in the region, rather than for us to continuously face this kind of threat.
