Gulf Cooperation Council supports extending U.N. arms embargo on Iran

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Sunday sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council supporting the extension of an arms embargo that prevents Iran from purchasing foreign-made weapons.

The embargo is set to expire in two months, and the council voiced support for extending it because of Iran's continued "armed interventions in neighboring countries, directly and through organizations and movements armed and trained by Iran."

The GCC is a bloc comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The letter lays out Iran's support of Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are locked in engagement with a Saudi-led coalition, in addition to Iran's arming of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Syria, as well as terrorist groups in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. 

The letter also went into detail about recent actins from Iran, including mistakenly shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane in January, and accidentally killing 19 sailers during a missile exercise. 

A spokesperson for the Iran Foreign Ministry called the GCC letter "irresponsible," and accused the six countries of serving U.S. interests. The spokesman pointed out that the gulf nations are "among the largest arms buyers in the region and the world."

For a decade, Iran has been banned for purchasing major weapons systems, as it works to build its nuclear arsenal, causing tension in the region. The 2015 Iran nuclear imposed a sunset on the U.N. arms embargo, set to expire this October. However, President Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the deal threw the sunset plan into question. 

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered his support of the letter, posting on Twitter, "The U.S. will introduce a resolution this week to extend the embargo after years of diplomacy." He wrote that the Security Council is now in a position to "choose between arming terrorists or standing by the" six-nation bloc.