Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke with the Council on Foreign Relations in a Zoom conversation Monday. The event, moderated by Fareed Zakaria, concerned recent developments in Iran, including the controversial execution of wrestling champion Navid Afkari and the recent U.S. reimposition of sanctions on the Iranian government. 

If Zarif’s smile occasionally appeared smug during the meeting, he had good reason to be. The Islamic Republic is on a diplomatic winning streak. In August, the UN Security Council declined to renew the arms embargo against Iran, set to expire in October. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on Saturday night announcing the new sanctions, he argued that by triggering the “snapback sanctions” function of the JCPOA, the United States could unilaterally extend UN sanctions on Iran. This stance is widely considered to have no legal basis, as the United States withdrew from the deal—and therefore its ability to trigger that provision—in 2018. 

Secretary Pompeo declared that “the United States expects all UN member states to fully comply with their obligations to implement these measures.” It is unclear why he expects this. Of the fifteen current members of the UN Security Council, thirteen have refused to cooperate with the renewed sanctions. (One member, the Dominican Republic, has remained neutral.) The list of objectors includes not only U.S. rivals like Russia and China but also traditional allies like Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium. In his conversation with Zakaria, Zarif gleefully castigated the United States for trying to bully the rest of the world into following its demands. 

Pompeo’s announcement is not good news for Iran. Unilateral or not, American sanctions have done much to exacerbate the country’s woes. And Zarif admitted that the Iranian rial’s value had fallen by “more than 50 percent” in 2020. In fact, when he insisted that the United States should compensate Iran for economic losses before a return to the negotiating table, Zakaria shot back, “It’s not going to happen.”  

Still, Iran has much to gain from a diplomatically isolated United States. During his first term in office, President Barack Obama was successful in securing international cooperation against Iran—notably in the case of UNSC Resolution 1929, which was approved by all five permanent members. Such international cooperation is unlikely to occur again under the Trump administration.  

Zarif offered no comment on Iran’s preference in the 2020 election.

Trevor Filseth is an editorial intern for the National Interest.