BICOM

US President Donald Trump chaired a special UN Security Council session (UNSC) on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction yesterday and urged fellow members to follow the US policy to isolate Iran.

President Trump called the JCPOA nuclear deal “horrible, one-sided” that “allowed Iran to continue its path towards a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most”. He said that in the years since the deal was signed in 2015 “Iran’s aggression only increased. The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear-capable missiles, and foment chaos”.

Trump said that after US nuclear-related sanctions against Iran come fully into force in November, the US will “pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran’s malign conduct”. He asked all members of the UNSC to work with the US to ensure Iran changes it regional behaviour and never acquires a nuclear weapon.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both disagreed with Trump’s assessment. May said the nuclear deal “remains the best means of preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving the JCPOA as long as Iran continues to abide by its obligations in full”. She called for a greater collective effort to “preserve and build on” non-proliferation norms and treaties against the use of chemical weapons, whilst blaming Russia for preventing the UNSC from cracking down on Syria for use of chemical weapons.

May said Iran’s “proliferation of missile and sophisticated military technology to groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon” or to Shi’ite Houthi rebels in Yemen is “not in compliance with Security Council resolutions”. It risks a dangerous escalation, so we need to see further decisive action in this council to tackle both the transit and proliferation of these technologies and increase the costs for those responsible,” May added.

Macron said Trump had created a “serious crisis of confidence” by unilaterally withdrawing the US from the nuclear deal, and that UNSC resolutions supporting the JCPOA need to be “respected by all members of the Security Council”. “We need to build together a long-term strategy in order to manage this crisis and it cannot just boil down to sanctions and containment,” Macron said.