Iran’s defense co-op with world multilateral win

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister, has congratulated the international community on defiance of “malign U.S. efforts” to keep in place an arms embargo on Iran, which officially expired on Sunday.

“A momentous day for the international community, which— in defiance of malign US efforts—has protected UNSC Res. 2231 and JCPOA,” Zarif said in a tweeted on Sunday morning.

“Today’s normalization of Iran’s defense cooperation with the world is a win for the cause of multilateralism and peace and security in our region,” he stated.

Under the historic 2015 nuclear deal, which officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the UN Security Council’s ban on trade in conventional weapons against the Islamic Republic came to an end on Sunday.

The embargo was terminated under the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that blessed the JCPOA between the Islamic Republic and other major world powers.

The American government, under President Donald Trump, suffered yet another humiliating defeat on August 14 when it failed to renew the arms embargo through a resolution at the UN Security Council. Russia and China both voted against the motion and the remaining 11 council members, including France, Germany and the UK, abstained.

Ghalibaf: ‘Weak-minded’ U.S. government suffered yet another significant defeat

In remarks made on Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reffered to the termination of the ban as a significant defeat for the “weak-minded” government of the United States and a great victory for the Iranian nation.

“This is undoubtedly a significant failure for the weak-minded U.S. government and its powerless and isolated president, who, despite the illegal attempt to activate the snapback mechanism, was ridiculed by the international community and failed to address the issue,” Ghalibaf commented.

“To turn this U.S. defeat into a strategic achievement for the Iranian nation, important steps must be taken in a proportionate and deterrent reaction to further U.S. pressure, as well as the sale and purchase of weapons,” he added.

The speaker added that Iran has important days ahead and it is necessary to follow the guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khamenei to overcome the people’s issues.

Iran can now export arms to other countries: ambassador

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador as well as permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations, announced that with the termination of the ban, Iran has put on its agenda the act of arms collaboration with other countries.

“Naturally, given the high capacities and knowledge of Iran in production of different weapons, we can export them to other countries,” Gharibabadi added.

He stated that no one is able anymore to refer to sanctions as a pretext to take the weapons of Iranian origin in other countries.

“From now on, governments cannot refer to bans or binding international restrictions in that regard when it comes to arms deals or even the existence of weapons of Iranian origin in other countries,” he added.

The ambassador also pointed out that the United States resorted to whatever means it could to stop the termination of the arms ban.

“The U.S. initially put pressure on UN Security Council member states to make them adopt a new resolution to extend the restrictions, but failed and suffered a major defeat,” he said.

“Afterwards, the U.S. made every effort, on its own, to activate the mechanism to bring back former UN Security Council sanctions, which again faced opposition from the member states of the council,” he explained.

He further stated that the arms ban termination was an important development, saying that the failure of the US to portray Iran as a security problem and move forward with its unilateral measures among its allies at the UN Security Council has now led to its isolation.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will closely monitor the U.S.’s behavior and measures in that regard, and will take the necessary action in accordance with the existing mechanisms if the lifting of the arms ban faces any obstacles in practice,” he added.

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