IRAN said a longstanding U.N. embargo on arms sales to and from the Islamic republic expired Sunday in line with a 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers from which Washington has withdrawn. As Tehran celebrated, however, Washington argued that arms sales to Iran would still violate U.N. resolutions and threatened sanctions on anyone making such sales. Iran has hailed the expiry as a diplomatic victory over its arch enemy the United States, leaving the way open to purchase weapons from other countries. “As of today, all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran... are all automatically terminated,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The embargo on the sale of conventional arms to Iran was due to start expiring progressively from Oct. 18 under the terms of the U.N. resolution that confirmed the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. “As of today, the Islamic Republic may procure any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based on its defensive needs,” the ministry added in the statement on Twitter. It insisted that under the terms of the nuclear deal, struck with China, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Russia, “the lifting of arms restrictions and the travel ban were designed to be automatic with no other action required.” U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the nuclear deal in 2018 and has unilaterally begun reimposing sanctions on Iran. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contended that arms sales to Iran would breach U.N. resolutions and still result in sanctions. “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. Washington suffered a setback in August when it failed to win support from the United Nations Security Council to indefinitely extend the arms embargo. It was “a momentous day for the international community,” the Iranian ministry said Sunday, adding the world had stood with Tehran “in defiance of the U.S. regime’s efforts.” But it stressed that “unconventional arms, weapons of mass destruction and a buying spree of conventional arms have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.”(SD-Agencies) |