News / Politics

Zarif: Failure of US-drafted anti-Iran resolution at UNSC proves change in intl. relations

Monday, 17 August 2020 3:49 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 17 August 2020 4:07 PM ]

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Iran’s foreign minister says failure of a US-drafted anti-Iran resolution, which sought to extend an arms embargo on the Islamic Republic, during a recent United Nations Security Council session heralds fundamental changes in international relations.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a speech delivered at the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran on Monday, the fourth part of a five-part course in international relations entitled, “World in Transition,” which is being offered by Iran’s top diplomat.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously rejected a US resolution to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October in line with a landmark nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that Iran clinched with six world powers in 2015.

The resolution needed support from nine of 15 votes to pass. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while the US and the Dominican Republic were the only “yes” votes.

UN Security Council rejects US resolution to extend Iran arms embargo

The United Nations Security Council has rejected a US resolution to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October.

Noting that only one country supported the US-drafted resolution during the Security Council meeting, Iran’s foreign minister said in his Monday remarks that “this development is the result of fundamental changes in international relations.”

“What happens in the world is no more a function of interactions among major powers,” Zarif added, emphasizing that the world has entered a post-West era.

"We have witnessed failure of important hegemonic powers in the world to achieve their desired goals at different junctures. This has been a long-standing process, which started from the Vietnam War," he said.

He cited the United States invasion of Grenada in 1983 as the only case that Washington achieved its goals through military means, saying that other military incursions led by Washington have invariably ended in failure.

The top Iranian diplomat said pride and lack of professionalism are among weak points in the US diplomatic apparatus, an example of which can be seen in the appointments made inside the Department of State.

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Zarif also touched on the West's failure in fighting terrorism across the globe and preventing the spread of insecurity in different cities of the world, including, New York, saying, "The US' huge annual military expenditure has even failed to bring security to the country's own people."