A decade-long U.N. arms embargo on Iran that barred it from purchasing foreign weapons such as tanks and fighter jets expired Sunday as planned under its nuclear deal with world powers, despite objections from the United States.
Any individual or entity that engages in trading conventional arms with Iran, as well as provides training or financial support related to these arms, can be sanctioned by the United States, Pompeo said.
“Every nation that seeks peace and stability in the Middle East and supports the fight against terrorism should refrain from any arms transactions with Iran. Providing arms to Iran will only aggravate tensions in the region, put more dangerous weapons into the hands of terrorist groups and proxies, and risk increasing threats to the security of Israel and other peaceful nations,” Pompeo said in the statement.
Pompeo said that Iran’s Islamic regime diverts funds from the Iranian people toward fulfilling its military ambitions thus impoverishing Iranians. “Today, Iranians are suffering because the regime continues to withhold nearly $1 billion from the Iranian Health Ministry for its COVID-19 response, despite calls from Iranian health officials to provide needed funding,” Pompeo said.
“The regime has a choice,” Pompeo said, if Iranian leaders “abandon their dreams of exporting revolution, they will find a welcoming and generous partner in Washington.”
While insisting it planned no “buying spree,” Iran in theory can purchase weapons to upgrade military armament dating back to before its 1979 Islamic Revolution and sell its own locally produced military gear abroad. In practice, however, Iran’s economy remains crippled by broad-reaching U.S. sanctions, and other nations may avoid arms deals with Tehran for fear of American financial retaliation.
Efforts to Prevent Arms Embargo from Expiring
The Trump administration has insisted it has re-invoked all U.N. sanctions on Iran via a clause in the JCPOA it withdrew from in 2018.The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that if the embargo ended, Iran likely would try to purchase Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 trainer aircraft, and T-90 tanks. Tehran also may try to buy Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal defense missile system, the Defense Intelligence Agency said. China also could sell Iran arms.
Iran long has been outmatched by U.S.-backed Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have purchased billions of dollars of advanced American weaponry. In response, Tehran turned toward developing locally made ballistic missiles.
The U.N. arms embargoes, however, did not stop Iran from sending weapons ranging from assault rifles to ballistic missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. While Tehran denies arming the Houthis, Western governments and weapons experts repeatedly have linked Iranian arms to the rebels.
Six Gulf Arab nations that backed the extension of the arms embargoes noted arms shipments to Yemen in their objection to the resumption of any weapon sales to Iran. They also mentioned in a letter to the U.N. Security Council that Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in January and its navy accidentally killed 19 sailors in a missile strike during an exercise. The U.N. also linked Iran to a 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia’s main crude oil refinery, though Tehran denies any links and Yemen’s rebel Houthis claimed responsibility.
Sunday also marked the end of U.N. travel bans on a number of Iranian military and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard members.
