Trump threatens 'snapback' curbs on Iran; UAE, Israeli firms sign deal

US President Donald Trump on Saturday all but dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate.

During a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump also said he intended to move next week to trigger a “snapback” of sanctions on Iran at the United Nations.

“We'll be doing a snapback,” Trump told reporters one day after the UN Security Council rejected a US bid to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran. "You'll be watching it next week." The United States has threatened to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran using a provision in a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as snapback, even though Trump abandoned the accord in 2018. Diplomats have said the United States would face a tough, messy battle in any such move. The US lost its bid on Friday to extend the UN arms embargo after Putin proposed a summit of world leaders to avoid “confrontation” over the American “snapback” threat.

“Probably not,” Trump said when asked whether he would participate in the Putin-backed summit.

In the Security Council vote, Russia and China opposed extending the weapons ban, which is due to expire in October. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany, and Britain, while the United States and the Dominican Republic were the only yes votes. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday the United States suffered a humiliating defeat at the Security Council.

“I don't remember the United States preparing a resolution for months to strike a blow at the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it garners only one vote,” Rouhani said in a televised speech.

“But the great success was that the United States was defeated in this conspiracy with humiliation.”

“It’s a serious mistake, we regret that,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday of the Security Council vote in a news conference during a visit to Poland.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said the Security Council's decision not to extend the arms embargo on Iran will lead to further Middle East instability."The extremist regime in Iran doesn't just finance terrorism: it takes an active part in terrorism through its branches around the world and uses it as a political tool. This behaviour represents a danger to regional and international stability,” Ashkenazi said in a statement on Saturday.

UAE, Israel sign first deal after breakthrough in ties

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates-based APEX National Investment agreed to conduct research on the coronavirus with Israel’s TeraGroup in what could be the first cross-border deal after the two countries began normalising relations, a move hailed by Trump as “a truly historic moment.”

TeraGroup is “the first business to inaugurate trade, economy and effective partnerships between the Emirati and Israeli business sectors,” APEX National Investment Chairman Khalifa Yousef Khouri said.

Shares climb

Equities across West Asia advanced in the first day of trading after Israel and the UAE said they reached an agreement to begin normalising relations.

Israel’s TA-35 gained as much as 2 per cent, leading gains in the region. The main indexes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi rose 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, as of 11:12 am local time.

Saudi-led coalition intercepts & downs ballistic missile 

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Sunday in a statement carried by state news agency SPA that it had intercepted and downed a ballistic missile launched towards civilian targets in southern Saudi Arabia.
 

Al Masirah TV, run by the Iran-aligned Houthis, said on Sunday that Saudi-led coalition air strikes had damaged fuel tanks in a factory in Houthi-held territory. Bloomberg