Page 11 - IRANRptSep20

European allies have been sceptical on whether Washington can force sanctions given its nuclear deal withdrawal. Experts say a snapback threatens to plunge the council into one of its worst ever diplomatic standoffs. Some observers note that the Trump re-election camp would be only too pleased to send the security council into a crisis as that would go down well with the president’s base supporters.
When the US proposal to extend the arms embargo was put to the security council, Russia and China voted against, while 11 members—including France, Germany and the UK—abstained. The US and the Dominican Republic were the only votes in favour.
“I don’t remember the US preparing a resolution for months to strike a blow at the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it garners only one vote,” the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said in a televised speech. “But the great success was that the US was defeated in this conspiracy with humiliation.”
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, wrote: “In the 75 years of United Nations history, America has never been so isolated”.
The UN arms embargo on Iran is due to expire in October.
The security council vote followed a proposal made by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for a video conference summit of world leaders to avoid “confrontation” over the American threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Tehran. Trump also said on August 15 that he would “probably not” take part in such a summit. “I think we’ll wait until after the election,” he said, with the US set to hold its presidential poll in November.
2.7 ​Polls & Sociology
Risk analysis identifies Turkey, Iran and Russia among 37 nations likely to face mass ‘post-Covid’ protests
Turkey, Iran and Russia are among 37 emerging and frontier market countries likely to face mass protests in the coming months as restrictions imposed to control the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are increasingly lifted and the huge economic impact of the crisis is realised, according to​ ​new research​ f​ rom a global risk analysis company.
“The total number of protests in frontier and emerging markets has almost rebounded to pre-pandemic levels,” said Verisk Maplecroft principal analyst Miha Hribernik. “With many countries still in lockdown, and the full economic shock of the outbreak yet to be felt, we expect the number of protests to surge over the next 2-3 months.”
Verisk Maplecroft concluded that the outlook was particularly worrying for frontier and emerging markets where the post-pandemic economic outlook is bleak. Iran, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Algeria and Ethiopia are among countries facing a “perfect storm” of grassroots anger—protests triggered by the pandemic’s economic fallout look set to combine with unrest over pre-existing grievances over issues ranging from poverty to food supply, it said.
“Our base case from January—that 2020 will see a surge in protests and that the coming decade is set to be one of unprecedented unrest—still stands,” said Hribernik. “But in the countries least prepared to bounce back from the
11​ IRAN Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com