UN council meets on Iran’s missile test
US WANTS COUNCIL TO CONDEMN PROVOCATIVE LAUNCH; TEHRAN SAYS WASHINGTON VIOLATED RESOLUTION
United States and Iran traded accusations on Tuesday over Tehran’s latest ballistic missile test, which the UN Security Council discussed behind closed doors without taking any action.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley called on the UN’s most powerful body to unanimously condemn the “provocative missile test” on December 1, calling it “dangerous and concerning, but not surprising.”
At issue is Iran’s compliance with the Security Council resolution that endorsed the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear agreement with Western powers, which the Trump administration pulled out of in May. A key provision calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons” — but it does not explicitly demand that Tehran do so.
The Security Council has been divided since the resolution was adopted over whether the language on ballistic missile launches is permissive or mandatory.
Iran’s UN mission said in a press release Tuesday that “all ballistic missile related activities of Iran are in full conformity” with the 2015 Security Council resolution and said that “it is the US that is in absolute violation of the very same resolution” for “its unlawful withdrawal” from the nuclear deal.
Britain, France and Germany — the three remaining Western powers still part of the nuclear agreement — had sent a letter to the council, which was circulated Tuesday, saying Iran’s earlier launches of Zolfaqar and Qiam short-range ballistic missiles on September 30 and October 1 “are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”
Inconsistent
Britain’s UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters after the closed council meeting that members expressed “a lot of concern” about the December 1 test launch and stressed that the 2015 resolution doesn’t say nuclear weapons must be on the missiles.
She called Iran’s actions “inconsistent” with the resolution and “part and parcel of Iran’s destabilising activity in the region.”
“There is no legitimate reason why Iran should flout the resolution and why their spokesman should pretend that the resolution doesn’t call on them not to develop such missiles,” Pierce said. “If you wanted to demonstrate to the international community that you were a responsible member of it and you were genuinely interested in regional peace and security, these are not the sorts of missiles you would be test launching.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Saturday that Iran had test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads “which has a range that allows it to strike parts of Europe and anywhere in the Middle East.” He called that a violation of the 2015 resolution.