Tahir Mustafa
If there is a diplomatic equivalent of the Saigon moment when American pilots ditched their helicopters into the sea attempting to escape from South Vietnam, it would be the US humiliation in the UN Security Council on August 14. The Washington warlords wanted to indefinitely extend the UN arms embargo on Iran but other council members rejected this illegal attempt. Only the Dominican Republic, a virtual American colony, joined the US in voting for the resolution. Most Americans would be hard pressed to locate the Caribbean island on a map.
Both Russia and China opposed the resolution and had vowed to veto it if the US managed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes required to approve the resolution. In the event, the other 11 Council members including US allies Britain, Germany and France decided to abstain, essentially repudiating the US. It will be difficult to recall another instance when the US has been so thoroughly humiliated in a council chamber that it virtually controls and is used to dictating to.
Iran hailed the UN vote. Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted on August 15: “In the 75 years of United Nations history, America has never been so isolated.” Times have clearly changed and the US can no longer dictate to the rest of the world.
Under the Iran nuclear deal of July 2015, referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the UN arms embargo against Iran will expire on October 18, 2020. In return for accepting limits on its nuclear program as well as intrusive inspections, UN and US sanctions against Iran would be lifted.
Far from adhering to the deal, Donald Trump repudiated the deal in May 2018 demanding that Iran renegotiate it to accept limits on its missile program as well as development of weapons for self-defence. Not only Iran but other signatories to the deal—China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany—also found the US demands unacceptable. Washington’s ludicrous position was clear to all except the bull-headed Trump and his equally thick-skulled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
While no longer party to the deal, the US insists it still has the “right” to extend the arms embargo against Iran as well as have recourse to the “snap back” provision of the JCPOA. Complicating Washington’s already untenable position, State department lawyers circulated a six-page memo trying to argue that the US remained party to the 2015 Security Council resolution. Only people bereft of all senses would make such claims.
China’s UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, dismissed America’s argument saying since the US walked away from the 2015 agreement, it is “ineligible to demand the Security Council invoke a snap back”. By rejecting the US-sponsored resolution, the overwhelming majority of council members “believe the US attempt has no legal basis”, the Chinese ambassador said.
“Should the US insist regardless of international opinion, it is doomed to fail like today [August 14],” Zhang said in his statement. The Security Council vote showed “that unilateralism receives no support and bullying will fail.”
The only people that supported the US position were the scandal-plagued Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and America’s Arabian puppets. These illegitimate rulers have been conspiring against the Islamic Republic since the day the Islamic revolution succeeded in 1979. The global situation, however, has changed radically. The Arabian potentates are destined to the dustbin of history as is the illegitimate Zionist entity that has illegally occupied the land of the Palestinian people.
The days of US hegemony and bullying are over as evidenced by the recent Security Council resolution. The sooner the Washington warlords accept this reality, the better for everyone. The US is in turmoil. Trump has badly mismanaged the pandemic resulting in virtual economic collapse. Centuries of systemic racism have pushed the country to the brink of civil war. Far from acting to restore calm by working for reconciliation, Trump is stoking the flames of hatred. He is likely to be consumed by them.
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