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US imposes sweeping new Iran sanctions as Security Council ignores snapback attempt

Nearly every UN Security Council member state says the United States lacks the legal authority to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference to announce the Trump administration's restoration of sanctions on Iran, on September 21, 2020, at the US State Department in Washington,DC. - Standing behind Pompeo are (L-R), National security adviser Robert O'Brien, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft. The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions on Iran's defense ministry and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro under a UN authority w

The United States imposed a raft of new sanctions on Monday targeting Iran’s Defense Ministry, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and more than two dozen other targets in an effort to enforce international sanctions that most of the United Nations Security Council says the United States is unable to unilaterally reinstate.  

“Rather than wait for the day that Iran threatens the world with a nuclear weapon, the United States is again fulfilling the best traditions of American global leadership and taking responsible action,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. 

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