Iran downplays impact of UN sanctions snapback

A senior official in Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said on Sunday that the return of UN sanctions, which took place a day earlier,r will fail to disrupt Iran’s foreign trade.

France, Britain, and Germany, as parties to Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, announced in late August that they had started a 30-day process to snap back sanctions on Iran before a late October deadline when a UN Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires.

The ultimatum ended at 00:00 GMT on Sunday, allowing the return of six UN sanctions resolutions that were adopted between 2006 and 2010 in response to Iran’s alleged non-compliance with UN nuclear regulations.

Amir Roshanbakhsh, who leads TPO’s trade development operations, said that countries like China and Russia have second thoughts about implementing the UN sanctions, adding that they will continue their trade with Iran despite the reinstated UN bans.

“It is obvious that these countries would help us instead of implementing the sanctions snapback,” Roshanbakhsh stated.

He said that the sanctions would not have any major impact on Iran’s exports and imports.

Chairman of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture also said on Sunday that there was hyperbole in media reports about the impact of the return of UN sanctions on Iran’s economy.

“The new sanctions would lead to difficulties and damages, but findings show that the impacts of the activation of the snapback process are not what they have been claimed to be,” said Samad Hossein Zadeh.

Iran says the move by Britain, France, and Germany to return UN sanctions on the country is influenced by the US and its attempts to force Iran to dismantle its peaceful nuclear program./isna