Tasnim – Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations described the US Secretary of State’s recent call on the UNSC to extend the international arms embargo on Tehran as yet another attempt by Washington to deflect world attention from its continued economic terrorism against the Iranian nation.

“Yet another attempt by the US to distract from its continued #EconomicTerrorism on the Iranian people: this time, US is calling on #UNSC to violate its very resolution 2231, and continue arms restrictions on Iran,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in a tweet on Sunday.

The tweet came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday urged the United Nations Security Council to extend the international arms embargo on Iran.

Russia also reacted to Pompeo’s remark and ruled out the possibility of renewing the arms embargo against Iran.

“Usually an arms race is not unilateral. It is a collective endeavor even at level of great powers or in regional & subregional context. A risk of arms race can hardly be removed through arms embargo against one country. This task requires collective efforts through negotiations,” Russia's Permanent Representative to the IAEA Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted late on Saturday.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, from which the US unilaterally withdrew in 2018, a UN ban on weapons sales to Tehran will end in October 2020.