WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States claimed on Saturday that all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran had been restored, a unilateral effort ignored by the international community.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that the sanctions are being re-imposed according to the "snapback" mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The United States unilaterally invoked the "snapback" on Aug. 20 after its failed and isolated attempt in the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo against Tehran that expires next month.

However, the overwhelming majority of Security Council members asserted that the United States has no right to invoke the "snapback" mechanism as the country is no longer a participant following its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.

Indonesia's UN ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country holds the Security Council presidency for the month of August, said last month that he is "not in the position" to take further action as there is no consensus among council members over the issue.

In the statement, Pompeo also threatened consequences if other countries fail to implement the sanctions.

"The United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity," he said.

He added that additional measures to "strengthen implementation of UN sanctions and hold violators accountable" would be announced in the coming days.

It is reported that Britain, France, and Germany told the Security Council on Friday that any decision or action taken to reimpose UN sanctions against Iran "would be incapable of legal effect."