If US tried to restore ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions on Iran, it will go down in flames

By Stephen Lendman

Virtually nothing Trump and Jared Kushner - his son in law, the slumlord, the landlord in New York, nothing they say can be taken with any sort of credibility. Trump said if he's reelected he'll strike a new deal with Iran and a few weeks and Kushner made similar comments.

There is no possibility in the world that this is what Trump will do if he's re-elected. There certainly is a reasonable chance that if Biden defeats Trump, we can save the JCPOA. We may not see that at all if Trump is reelected. It all depends on what Europe does, France, Britain, and Germany. If they refuse to go along with Trump's ordered snapback sanctions, then he's defeated and the JCPOA is saved. That's very much up in the air now.

As Trump made this suggestion, well he made it a number of days ago, and Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State is in New York today meeting with the president of the Security Council, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to push his re-institution of snapback sanctions on Iran. Well, they are illegal. The only ones who can do it are the signatories of the JCPOA.

Trump pulled out of the deal in May 2018, so the US is no longer a signatory. It has no legal right to do anything regarding the implementation of the deal, including imposing snapback sanctions. That was in the agreement. In case, Iran or another signatory does not live up to its obligations maybe Iran which, of course, Iran has fully complied with the terms of the deal, and the US has not complied. Britain, France, and Germany have not complied because they simply haven't gone along with Iran to be sure the deal is solid. That's why it's been very shaky for good while.

So where do we stand? Pompeo at least today said, “We'll initiate snapback sanctions. They will take effect in 30 days.” But this all depends on what the other signatories to the JCPOA do. There is no question that Russia and China reject what Trump is doing and they will not go along with it. I hope Europe won’t go along with it either. Their rhetoric has said they will not. Only their actions count. I’m talking about Britain, France, and Germany. The P5+1 is now the P4+1 because the US isn’t in it anymore and I repeat because the US dropped out of the deal illegally. It’s an international agreement, binding international law. The US has no authority to do anything regarding the JCPOA or Security Council 2231, the resolution.

If Germany, France, and Britain, refused to go along with the US, and if the US imposes sanctions, which it will, and they refuse to honor them as China and Russia will likely refuse to honor them, then maybe the rest of the world community will not honor them either. And the US will get a second resounding defeat in short order following last Friday when they tried to extend the arms embargo on Iran indefinitely and was defeated overwhelmingly by the Security Council. The only nation that is listed out of 15 was the Dominican Republic; 11 abstained which was a virtually no; Russia and China voted no. So aside from the US, it was 13 against and 1 for. If there’s something similar to that in going against Trump's imposition of snapback sanctions then US will go down in flames.

And it will simply weaken the US all the more. There's no question that the Empire is dying, but it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a long time but these incidents speed the process up and like all of the Empires in history, the dustbin of history awaits US arrival, which it certainly will end up with one day.

ce, Britain, and Germany. If they refuse to go along with Trump's ordered snapback sanctions, then he's defeated and the JCPOA is saved. That's very much up in the air now.

As Trump made this suggestion, well he made it a number of days ago, and Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State is in New York today meeting with the president of the Security Council, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to push his re-institution of snapback sanctions on Iran. Well, they are illegal. The only ones who can do it are the signatories of the JCPOA.

Trump pulled out of the deal in May 2018, so the US is no longer a signatory. It has no legal right to do anything regarding the implementation of the deal, including imposing snapback sanctions. That was in the agreement. In case, Iran or another signatory does not live up to its obligations maybe Iran which, of course, Iran has fully complied with the terms of the deal, and the US has not complied. Britain, France, and Germany have not complied because they simply haven't gone along with Iran to be sure the deal is solid. That's why it's been very shaky for good while.

So where do we stand? Pompeo at least today said, “We'll initiate snapback sanctions. They will take effect in 30 days.” But this all depends on what the other signatories to the JCPOA do. There is no question that Russia and China reject what Trump is doing and they will not go along with it. I hope Europe won’t go along with it either. Their rhetoric has said they will not. Only their actions count. I’m talking about Britain, France, and Germany. The P5+1 is now the P4+1 because the US isn’t in it anymore and I repeat because the US dropped out of the deal illegally. It’s an international agreement, binding international law. The US has no authority to do anything regarding the JCPOA or Security Council 2231, the resolution.

If Germany, France, and Britain, refused to go along with the US, and if the US imposes sanctions, which it will, and they refuse to honor them as China and Russia will likely refuse to honor them, then maybe the rest of the world community will not honor them either. And the US will get a second resounding defeat in short order following last Friday when they tried to extend the arms embargo on Iran indefinitely and was defeated overwhelmingly by the Security Council. The only nation that is listed out of 15 was the Dominican Republic; 11 abstained which was a virtually no; Russia and China voted no. So aside from the US, it was 13 against and 1 for. If there’s something similar to that in going against Trump's imposition of snapback sanctions the US will go down in flames.

And it will simply weaken the US all the more. There's no question that the Empire is dying, but it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a long time but these incidents speed the process up and like all of the Empires in history, the dustbin of history awaits US arrival, which it certainly will end up with one day.

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Stephen Lendman, born in 1934 in Boston, started writing on major world and national issues began in summer 2005. In early 2007, radio hosting followed. Lendman now hosts the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network three times weekly. Distinguished guests are featured. Listen live or archived. Major world and national issues are discussed. Lendman is a 2008 Project Censored winner and 2011 Mexican Journalists Club international journalism award recipient. He recorded this article for Press TV website.

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