Heading overseas now, Iran has taken another major step towards normalised relations with the rest of the world, with the United Nations nuclear agency announcing overnight that it is ending its 12-year investigation of Iran’s nuclear weapons capability.
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The panel report, dated December 11, stated that the firing used ballistic missile technology banned under a June 2010 resolution, according to the Associated Press.
The report defines ballistic missiles as those capable of delivering at least a 500kg payload within a range of at least 300km.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the Security Council can not allow Iran to violate the resolution with impunity.
In Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama was prepared to enact new sanctions on Tehran if needed.
“I suspect that Iran is conducting these tests now to underline that point and assert their right to continue testing ballistic missiles”. Iran insists that its missiles are not capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the AP reported.
Based on video footage of the October 10 launch, the panel said the Emad delivery system was identified as “the Ghadr-1 medium-range single stage liquid-fueled ballistic missile”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the world’s nuclear regulatory watchdog, voted Tuesday to halt its yearslong investigation into Iran’s past nuclear activity in favor of moving forward with the accord reached this year between Tehran and six Western powers – including the United States.
Over the past months, both Iran and the powers have taken big steps to make the JCPOA practical, and the remaining measures will hopefully be completed by both sides in the coming weeks, he said.
Following Iran’s October 10 ballistic missile test, Senator Corker, along with committee members Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry seeking a determination on whether the test violated UNSCR 1929 and how the US would respond.
He also called for addressing the issue of funding the additional IAEA activities in Iran under the JCPOA, noting that verification and monitoring require predictable funding.
He said the conclusion was that Iran carried out activities related to developing a “nuclear explosive device”, mostly before 2003.
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The probe had to be formally ended as part of the historic agreement, which will lift sanctions in return for Iran curbing its nuclear activities. However, they said Russian Federation and China, which dislike the sanctions on Iran’s missile program, might block any such moves.
