Iran: Stiff Sanctions restored

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A 30-day window for Iran to live up to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) expired 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, leading Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to announce the restoration of "virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran."

"The United States took this decisive action because, in addition to Iran's failure to perform its JCPOA commitments, the Security Council failed to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, which had been in place for 13 years," Pompeo's statement read.

"The Security Council's inaction would have paved the way for Iran to buy all manner of conventional weapons on Oct. 18. Fortunately for the world, the United States took responsible action to stop this from happening. In accordance with our rights under UNSCR 2231, we initiated the snapback process to restore virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions, including the arms embargo. The world will be safer as a result."

Pompeo has warned Iran of the 30-window of "significant non-performance of its JCPOA commitments."

"The Trump administration has always understood that the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East comes from Islamic Republic of Iran, whose violent efforts to spread revolution have killed thousands and upended the lives of millions of innocent people," the statement began. "History shows appeasement only emboldens such regimes. Thus today, the United States welcomes the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terror and anti-Semitism."

Added in the announcement was a warning to UN Member States to follow through on the following measures:

Arms embargo.
Restrictions on uranium enrichment
Bans on ballistic missle testing or development
Sanctions on the transfer of missile-related technology.

"If UN Member States fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity," Pompeo's statement continued.

The move continues the Trump administration's rejection of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal of 2015 and "is a step toward international peace and security," according to Pompeo.

"The 2015 nuclear deal did not induce Iran to join 'the community of nations' as promised," Pompeo said. "Instead, the mullahs took their newfound wealth and used it to foment death and destruction from Yemen to Iraq to Lebanon and Syria – a predictable outcome. Were it not for U.S. action to restore UN measures, the Iranian regime would soon be able to buy and sell weapons more freely across the globe.

"Because of the failures of the JCPOA, Iran is nearly five years closer to the expiration of restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment program and reprocessing-related activities, bringing it unacceptably close to a dangerous nuclear breakout capability. However, thanks to the snapback of UN sanctions, Iran is now obligated to suspend enrichment, reprocessing, and heavy-water-related activities. We will never let the world's leading state sponsor of terror obtain the world's most deadly weapon."

In addition to restoring the paused sanctions, Pompeo added the Trump administration will move forward will more "maximum pressure" measures "in the coming days."

"Our maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will continue until Iran reaches a comprehensive agreement with us to rein in its proliferation threats and stops spreading chaos, violence, and bloodshed," Pompeo concluded.

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The chief of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Saturday to go after everyone who had a role in a top general's January killing during a U.S. drone strike in Iraq.

The guard's website quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying, "Mr. Trump! Our revenge for martyrdom of our great general is obvious, serious and real."

President Donald Trump warned this week Washington would harshly respond to any Iranian attempts to take revenge for the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, tweeting "if they hit us in any way, any form, written instructions already done we're going to hit them 1000 times harder."

The president's warning came in response to a report Iran was plotting to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to South Africa in retaliation for Soleimani's killing at Baghdad's airport at the beginning of the year.