Iran is celebrating what it believes is a diplomatic victory after the U.N. lifted a 13-year arms embargo on the Islamic Republic, allowing the nation to buy weapons without U.N. approval.

Moments after the announcement, the White House issued a statement of its own, threatening to slap sanctions on any country engaging in arms sales with Iran.

The United States tried and failed to extend the arms embargo back in August but the U.N. along with European allies-France, Germany, and the U.K. dismissed those efforts as having no legal basis.

That’s because the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

To discuss:

• Hassan Ahmadian is Professor of Middle East Studies at the University of Tehran
• Maya Lester is International Sanctions Lawyer with Brick Court Chambers
• Ian Black is visiting Senior Fellow, Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Barbara Slavin is Director and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council

For More: 

A foreign subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway appears to have violated US sanctions on Iran, the Treasury Department says https://t.co/GSorNSuJfL

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 20, 2020

#China slams US sanction threats after arms embargo against #Iran terminated #USSanctions https://t.co/NioHPTYhMy

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) October 20, 2020

13-year conventional arms embargo on Iran expires despite US opposition https://t.co/XgyCMJoh6b pic.twitter.com/k1rtuKbpp4

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 18, 2020