Israel deems UNSC's decision not to extend Iran arms embargo to be mistake
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Israel deems the UN Security Council's decision not to extend the Iran arms embargo to be a mistake, Israeli Charge d'Affaires ad interim to Russia Yacov Livne said.
"We believe that the vote against extending the embargo is a mistake. This mistake could lead to a dangerous escalation in our region. We in Israel feel discontent about the decision of certain Security Council member states not to extend the embargo," Livne said in an interview with Interfax.
"Iran keeps working on its nuclear program and an improvement of its missile systems even within the JCPOA framework," and the IAEA report containing information about Iran's violation of its obligations should trigger an immediate response from the international community, he said.
"Iran has breached its obligations many times, so we are sure that the arms embargo is an important factor of deterrence," the diplomat said.
"We believe that the embargo should stay in place in order to prevent Iran from destabilizing our region, which has many problems as is. We see what Iran has been doing in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. So, we think that the resolution voted down by the United Nations deals a heavy blow to the world order and the interest of all global players in peace and stability in the Middle East," Livne said.
The United States was pushing at the UN Security Council for extending the embargo on Iran's procurement of certain types of armament systems, which expires in October 2020. However, the U.S. proposal gained only two votes, those of the U.S. itself and the Dominical Republic, on August 15. Russia and China voted against, and the rest of UN Security Council members abstained. Hence, the draft resolution failed to gain the necessary number of votes and was not endorsed.
