“It is about safeguarding international law and multilateralism,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said in reference to the October expiry of an Iran arms embargo, as set in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as well as UN Resolution 2231.
Rouhani’s televised July 15 address came as the United States was in the middle of an intense and challenging campaign to get the UN Security Council to vote on extending the embargo. The Islamic Republic has been working relentlessly to counterbalance the US push by seeking support from the remaining JCPOA signatories, China and Russia in particular. In the opening of a series of US-called Security Council meetings on the matter in late June, the members emphasized the need to preserve the JCPOA.
