US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo puts on a face mask after a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Russia has censured a unilateral declaration by the United States on the restoration of UN sanctions against Iran as a theatrical performance that aims to mislead the international community.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued an official statement on Sunday after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier in the day the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran under the so-called snapback mechanism of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Pompeo threatened UN member states with consequences if they refused to implement the sanctions.

The US continues to mislead the international community by speculating that the UN Security Council conducted some sort of procedures to restore the effect of UNSC resolutions on Iran sanctions, which were cancelled after the signing of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), read the statement from the Russian ministry.

The facts are that the UN Security Council did not take any action that would lead to the restoration of old sanctions against Iran. All that Washington does is nothing more than a theatrical performance staged in order to subordinate the Security Council to its policy of ’maximum pressure’ on Iran and turn this authoritative body into its handy tool, the statement added.

The ministry denounced the unilateral declaration by Pompeo as unacceptable and said, The illegitimate initiatives and actions of the United States by definition cannot have international legal consequences for other countries.

The ministry also called on Washington to have enough courage to face the truth and stop speaking on behalf of the UN Security Council. It said Moscow fully supports the position of the majority of Security Council members that the US moves are legally and procedurally null and void.

Earlier, Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy tweeted, We all clearly said in August that US claims to trigger snapback are illegitimate. Is Washington deaf?

Pompeo formally notified on August 20 the United Nations of Washington’s demand for all the UN Security Council sanctions on Iran to be restored under the so-called snapback mechanism, citing what he claimed to be Iranian violations of the nuclear deal.

The United States has been trying to trigger the snapback mechanism in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite its withdrawal from the accord in May 2018, which was by itself in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorses the JCPOA.

Since its much-criticized exit, Washington has been attempting to prevent the remaining signatories from abiding by their commitments and thus kill the historic agreement, which is widely viewed as a fruit of international diplomacy.

The United States’ most prominent Western allies have so far refused to vote for the US push to invoke the snapback mechanism. Washington suffered a humiliating defeat in securing an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran at the UNSC last month.

The president of the Security Council on August 25 dismissed attempts by the US to reinstate all UN sanctions against Iran, citing a lack of consensus in the 15-member body.

Iran has repeatedly censured the European signatories to the nuclear deal for failing to meet their commitments under the agreement, saying they are just acting as subservient to the United States.