Islam Times - Russia Calls on US to Stop Pumping up ME with Weapons

Islam Times - In reaction to Pompeo's satisfaction with the PGCC's letter against Iran, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna sarcastically called on the US to stop pumping up West Asia with weapons.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Mikhail Ulyanov wrote, "It could be advisable for US as the first step to stop pumping up the Middle East with weapons for dozens of billions of dollars."

His tweet came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his Twitter account wrote, "Countries in the Middle East from the Gulf to Israel support extending the arms embargo. It is deeply important to every one of them. Arabs and Israelis are speaking with one voice and the Security Council must listen."

In a letter to the UN Security Council on Sunday, the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) accused the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling on UNSC to extend the arms embargo on Iran.

According to Resolution 2231, the UN arms embargo on Iran will end on October 18. According to reports, the US will offer the draft resolution of extending arms embargo in a UNSC session today.

China and Russia have clearly announced that they will veto such a resolution, however, Foreign Policy has reported that Washington may even fail to attract the required 9 votes to pass the resolution in the first place.

A last-minute attempt by Britain, France and Germany to broker a compromise with Russia and China on an arms embargo extension appeared unsuccessful so far, some diplomats told Reuters.

“This US administration’s goal is to terminate the Iran nuclear deal,” said a European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The United States has started efforts to extend the embargo as a continuation of its anti-Iranian measures. Washington has also threatened that it might use the ‘snapback’ mechanism of the JCPOA if the UNSC rejects the resolution. This is while Washington has ‘ceased participation’ in the deal and, legally speaking, it is not able to trigger the mechanism.