UNSC not to take further action over Iran sanctions: president

The president of the Security Council said Tuesday that he will not take any action on a purported U.S. notification for a "snapback" mechanism on sanctions against Iran, reported Xinhua.

Indonesia's UN ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country holds the Security Council presidency for the month of August, said he "is not in the position" to take further action as there is no consensus among council members over the issue.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday submitted Washington's demand for the return of all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. But the overwhelming majority of Security Council members hold that the U.S. move does not constitute a "notification" as envisaged in Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear deal.

They argued that the United States has no right to invoke the "snapback" mechanism as it is no longer a participant since it withdrew from the deal in May 2018.

Asked on Tuesday by Russia and China on how he would proceed with the U.S. demand, Djani said: "It is clear for me that there is one (council) member which has a particular position on the issue while there are a significant number of members who have contesting views. In my view, there is no consensus in the council. Thus, the president is not in the position to take further action."

Under Resolution 2231, any participant state to the Iran nuclear deal can notify the Security Council about an issue that it considers a significant violation of the agreement. The UN sanctions in place before the adoption of Resolution 2231 in July 2015 would then resume 30 days after the notification, unless the Security Council adopts a resolution to decide otherwise.

Under the resolution, if no member of the Security Council has submitted a draft resolution to prevent a snapback within 10 days of a notification by a participant state, the president of the Security Council shall submit such a draft resolution and put it to a vote within 30 days of the notification.