U.S. State Department Claims Moral Superiority After Failing To Extend Iran Arms Embargo

Aug. 15, 2020 (EIRNS)—The U.S. State Department issued statements following the defeat of its resolution on Iran in the UN Security Council that are predictably full of moralizing about Iran’s “malign” behavior and based on the notion that Iran is solely responsible for all of the problems of the region—rather than 200 years of British Empire and British Empire-inspired geopolitics of which Iran itself has been one of the victims. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that the UNSC “rejected a reasonable resolution to extend the 13-year-old arms embargo on Iran and paved the way for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell conventional weapons without specific UN restrictions in place for the first time in over a decade.” He vowed that the U.S. “will never abandon our friends”—that is, Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council states—“in the region who expected more from the Security Council. We will continue to work to ensure that the theocratic terror regime does not have the freedom to purchase and sell weapons that threaten the heart of Europe, the Middle East and beyond.”

“Failing to step up to this moral challenge validates the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, just to save face and protect a failed political deal made outside the Council,” said Kelly Craft. “A flawed deal, it is worth noting, under which Iran remains in significant non-performance of its commitments.”

“The United States has acted in good faith throughout this process, and made clear to all parties that failure was simply not an option,” Craft went on. “Under Resolution 2231, the United States has every right to initiate snapback of provisions of previous Security Council resolutions. In the coming days, the United States will follow through on that promise to stop at nothing to extend the arms embargo.”