Lavrov Lambasts US for Breaching UN Resolutions, Quitting JCPOA

By Staff, Agencies

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the United States for its “attacks” on international law and for breaching the United Nations resolutions, taking aim at the US withdrawal from the landmark 2015 unclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA].

Lavrov made the remarks during a scathing speech to the annual UN General Assembly on Friday, warning that attacks on international law have reached “alarming levels.”

“The US withdrawal from the JCPOA, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, is widely discussed. Washington not only repudiated its obligations enshrined in this resolution but started demanding for others to play by American rules and to sabotage its implementation,” Lavrov stressed.

Ever since quitting the JCPOA in May 2018, US President Donald Trump has been running what he refers to as a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran, reinstating sanctions lifted under the deal and also imposing several rounds of new ones.

Washington claimed it seeks to pressure Iran into negotiating a new deal that addresses its ballistic missile program and regional influence. While condemning the US sanctions, Iran says such “economic terrorism” against the Islamic Republic will only make future negotiations with Tehran impossible.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian diplomat said that the West refuses to accept its diminishing power after decades of dominance.

“In our view the reason for the current state of affairs is first and foremost in the unwillingness of the countries that declared themselves as the victors of the Cold War to reckon with the legitimate interests of the other states, to accept the realities of the objective course of history. It is hard for the West to accept seeing its decades-long dominance in world affairs diminishing,” he said.