UNITED NATIONS: The UN has reinstated an arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme following a process triggered by European powers that Tehran has warned will be met with a harsh response.Britain, France and Germany initiated the return of sanctions on Iran at the UN Security Council over accusations it had violated a 2015 deal that aimed to stop it developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. The end of the decade-long nuclear deal originally agreed by Iran, Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China is likely to exacerbate tensions in West Asia, just months after Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.UN sanctions imposed by the Security Council in resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 were reinstated at 8pm EDT on Saturday (0000 GMT on Sunday). Attempts to delay the return of all sanctions on Iran failed on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN this week.“We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resolutions,” the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany said in a joint statement after the deadline passed. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed in a statement Sunday that the bloc would “now proceed to implement the re-imposition of all previously lifted UN and EU nuclear-related sanctions without delay”.Israel hailed the reimposition of sanctions on its arch foe as a “major development”, citing what it called Tehran’s ongoing violations over the nuclear programme. “The goal is clear: prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. The world must use every tool to achieve this goal,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a post on X.The Iranian rial plummeted to a record low against he US dollar on Sunday, according to currency-tracking websites. On the black market, the rial was trading at around 1.12 million rials against the dollar, the Bonbast and AlanChand websites reported, about a month after it had been slightly above one million rials to the greenback.With the return of UN sanctions, Iran will again be subjected to an arms embargo and a ban on all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, as well as any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Other sanctions to be reimposed include a travel ban on dozens of Iranian citizens, asset freezes on dozens of people and entities and a ban on the supply of anything that could be used in the nation’s nuclear programme.(This is a Reuters story)
