This year, we have witnessed Russia and Iran blatantly violate the founding principles of the UN Charter. As Russia has executed its brutal war on Ukraine, Iran has blatantly violated UN Resolution 2231, which, among other limitations, prohibits the sale and transfer of ballistic missiles and drones. As you are all most likely aware by now, Iran has been providing hundreds of drones to Russia to prosecute its war on Ukraine, killing and maiming hundreds of Ukrainian civilians, making it an accessory to the crime.  Yet no one seems to be paying attention.

UN Security Council Resolution has several parts, one of which modifies and incorporates some of the UN’s former sanctions against Iran, but each sanction has a “sunset clause”. In less than a year from now, on October 23, 2023, the UN sanction prohibiting the sale and transfer of ballistic missiles and drones will expire. And to make matters worse, on October 18, 2025, all United Nations sanctions against Iran are set to expire. This is occurring as Iran is perilously close to a nuclear breakout. As Gabe Noronha says, “This is a ticking time bomb”.

About the Speaker: Gabriel Noronha is the Executive Director of POLARIS National Security and a Fellow with JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy. From 2019-2021, he served as the Special Advisor for Iran at the Department of State where he coordinated policy and directed the Department’s communications and congressional affairs for Iran.

From 2017-2019, he worked as the Special Assistant to the Senate Armed Services Committee under Chairmen John McCain and Jim Inhofe, helping write and pass the annual national security legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act.

Gabriel previously worked for U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte from 2015-2016. He works on a wide range of national security and political projects. He speaks and conducts research in Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin.