The Guardian: Trump’s Sanctions Against Iran Breach of International Law

The Trump administration has threatened economic retaliation against nations that maintain economic ties to Iran. Writing for the Guardian, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo argues that such a position is “a clear rejection of diplomacy and multilateralism” and “a clear call for confrontation rather than cooperation.” After withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in May – also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action – Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to reimpose all US sanctions that had previously been lifted. The nuclear agreement had been more than a decade in the making and was backed UN security council resolution 2231, which calls for “promoting and facilitating the development of normal economic and trade contacts and cooperation with Iran” as an integral aspect of the JCPOA and upon all member states to support its implementation, “including to ensure Iran’s access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy, and refrain from actions that undermine it.” Khoshroo argues that the “abdication of the deal is a tragedy for multilateral diplomacy and will leave a deep scar on the credibility of such needed diplomatic ventures for some time to come.” –YaleGlobal