In a briefing on “depriving Iran of the weapons of war”, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, declared that “we can’t let the [UN] arms embargo expire” in October 2020 and noted: “we have drafted a resolution. It’s quite easy to renew the arms embargo… We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to do this in a very clean way through the UN Security Council, but we’re also prepared to use every diplomatic option available to us if those efforts are frustrated”. Hook further maintained that “our right as a [UNSC resolution 2231] participant is something that exists independently of the JCPOA”, adding: “I know that there is a desire… to go right to the possibilities of snapback, but that’s not our focus. Our focus is on engaging in thoughtful and measured diplomacy with all the relevant parties to successfully negotiate a renewal of the UN arms embargo”. In related remarks, Secretary of State Pompeo affirmed that “President Trump and our team is going to make sure that when we come to October… we’re going to have played every card in our kit to make sure that they can’t purchase tanks and armoured vehicles from Russia or from China”.