Niger, the United Nations Security Council president for September, said on Tuesday it stands by a declaration that no further action can be taken on a U.S. bid to trigger a return of UN sanctions on Iran because there is no consensus in the 15-member body.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he triggered a 30-day process on Aug. 20 to reimpose all international sanctions on Iran - known as snapback - by lodging a complaint with the council accusing Iran of breaching a 2015 nuclear deal.
"We're staying with this decision... that was stated and announced by the president of the Security Council last month," said Niger U.N. Ambassador Abdou Abarry, ruling out any move to put forward a draft resolution under the snapback process to extend sanctions relief for Iran.
But Abarry noted: "Any other member state of the Security Council can do it. The United States themselves can do it."