By Elishya Perera
(CWBN)_ Despite objections from the United States, the decade-long UN arms embargo on Iran expired yesterday (Oct 18), in line with the terms of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Even though Iran will legally be able to buy and sell conventional arms, including missiles, helicopters and tanks, the state claims that it has no plans for a “buying spree”.
“As of today, all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran… are all automatically terminated”. Accordingly, the country can now “procure any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based on its defensive needs,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the US tried to indefinitely extend the embargo on Iran, claiming that the lifting of the embargo would open floodgates of arms deals in the region. “For the past 10 years, countries have refrained from selling weapons to Iran under various UN measures,” US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said. “Any country that now challenges this prohibition will be very clearly choosing to fuel conflict and tension over promoting peace and security”.
Meanwhile, in July this year, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy claimed that they too oppose lifting the embargo on Iran. Recalling that the EU embargoes on conventional arms exports and missile technology will remain in force until 2023, the ministers said, “We believe that the planned lifting of the UN conventional arms embargo established by Resolution 2231 next October would have major implications for regional security and stability”.
Nonetheless, the efforts of the US to get the UN Security Council to extend the embargo suffered a humiliating defeat when only one country of the 15-member panel supported it.
At the start of this year, the tensions between the US and Iran became highly intense, as an American drone killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, and Tehran retaliated with a ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq, injuring dozens.
In 2018, President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear accord which Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, had expected to be a ticket to international acceptance and economic prosperity. Accordingly, Iran’s economy remained severely damaged by US sanctions, as other nations avoided dealings with Tehran for fear of American financial retaliation. Crude oil production in Iran has halved since mid-2018 to less than 2 million barrels a day.
In mid-October, the US blacklisted 18 Iranian banks as well, including those that process humanitarian trade transactions, effectively impairing Iran’s financial sector from the global economy, however, in the recent months, with the US presidential election just around the corner, provocations on both sides have slowed.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has said that he is willing to offer Iran “a credible path back to diplomacy” if Tehran returns to “strict compliance” with the deal.
Edited By Chathushka Perera
