UN sanctions against Iran are to be reinstated on Saturday, the UK's representative to the UN said on Friday after a UN Security Council resolution by Russia and China to delay them failed, prompting Tehran to warn that the West would be responsible for any consequences, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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The decision by Western powers to reinstate sanctions is likely to escalate tensions with Tehran, which has already warned that these actions will be met with a harsh response and open the way to escalation, the publication writes.
Attempts by Russia and China to postpone the renewal of sanctions against Iran failed in the 15-member UN Security Council after only four countries supported their draft resolution.
"This council does not have the necessary assurances that there is a clear path to a swift diplomatic solution," said UK Ambassador to the UN Barbara Wood after the vote.
"This council has completed the necessary steps of the snapback process outlined in Resolution 2231, so UN sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear proliferation will be reinstated this weekend," she said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran has no intention of withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in response to the renewal of UN sanctions.
"Iran will never seek to build nuclear weapons... We are fully prepared for transparency regarding our highly enriched uranium," Pezeshkian said.
All UN sanctions on Iran are to be reinstated on Saturday at 8:00 PM EDT (03:00 Kyiv time) after European states, known as the E3, initiated a 30-day process, accusing Tehran of violating the 2015 agreement that was supposed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Diplomats said a resolution to delay sanctions for six months was unlikely to pass after desperate talks between Iran, the UK, France, and Germany failed to break the deadlock.
Nine countries voted against, two abstained.
After what Iran called the "irresponsible" reinstatement of the snapback mechanism by European states, Iran on Saturday recalled its ambassadors from Germany, France, and the UK for consultations, state media reported.
Russia's deputy permanent representative to the UN accused Western powers of obstructing the diplomatic path.
UN sanctions will take effect immediately on Saturday, while European Union sanctions will return next week, the publication writes.
The sanctions will reinstate an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on ballistic missile activities capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel ban for Iranian individuals and entities, and will affect the energy sector.