Pompeo Warns of Sanctions for Arms Sales to Iran despite Ban Lifting

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that arms sales to Iran would violate UN resolutions and result in sanctions, hours after Tehran announced that the longstanding UN embargo on arms trade with the Islamic republic had expired.

“The United States is prepared to use its domestic authorities to sanction any individual or entity that materially contributes to the supply, sale, or transfer of conventional arms to or from Iran,” Pompeo said in a statement.

The US secretary of state also claimed that, “Every nation that seeks peace and stability in the Middle East… should refrain from any arms transactions with Iran.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday that Iran would be free to trade weapons as of October 18 after the United States failed in its attempts to secure an extension of the United Nations arms embargo against the Islamic Republic.