MIDDLE EAST PEACE: US to declare ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions on Iran.

Abrams told reporters Wednesday that all U.N. sanctions would “snap back” at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

But the other members of the U.N. Security Council, including U.S. allies, have objected to the move. A wholesale rejection of the U.S. position could push the Trump administration, which has already withdrawn from multiple U.N. agencies, organizations and treaties, further away from the international community.

Trump plans to address Iran in a speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday as the world body prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary at a coronavirus-restricted General Assembly session next week. Officials say he will also touch on his brokering of agreements for Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations in part to solidify a regional bulwark against Iran.

But the other parties to the nuclear deal — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia and most of the U.N. Security Council have said they do not believe the United States can reimpose the U.N. sanctions, saying the U.S. lost its legal standing to act on sanctions when Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord in 2018.

The U.S. argues it retains the right to enact the “snapback” of sanctions because the council resolution that endorsed the deal refers to it as a participant.

“It’s like pulling a trigger and no bullet comes out,” a senior U.N. Security Council diplomat said on condition of anonymity. “There will be no snapback, the sanctions will remain suspended, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA nuclear deal) will remain in place.”

I said years ago, back when John Kerry was lying about how sanctions could be made to snap back, that it would be difficult or impossible to drag the Security Council along once they’d gotten a taste of Iranian oil.