Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the missile tests do not violate Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers or U.N. Security Council resolutions.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said his country considers Russia’s decision to pull out its troops from Syria a “positive sign”.
The Security Council discussed the rocket launches after the USA called for a meeting charging that the tests violated a resolution passed past year that endorsed the global nuclear deal brokered with Iran.
“If there is proof that these missiles can carry nuclear weapons, it will be possible to say that they (the Iranians) have disregarded this concrete call of resolution 2231”, Churkin said. Under the United Nations resolution, the secretary-general reports twice a year to the council on the resolution’s implementation.
Zarif stressed that the missiles were being developed only for Iran’s defense.
European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Monday she will go to Iran next month to build on a deal she helped negotiate to end nuclear sanctions against Tehran.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called on the council to take action against Iran, arguing that failure to do so “will give Iran a green light to continue with its nuclear missile tests”.
Resolution 2231 also provides for the termination of provisions of previous UN Security Council rulings on the Iranian nuclear issue and establishes specific restrictions that apply to all states without exception, according to UN.
The Iranian foreign minister said while the ceasefire did not include Daesh (ISIL) and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group Al-Nusra Front or their collaborators, the worldwide community was united against them.
He had said they were nearly always Iranians.
Now that those tests have effectively been repeated, various policy analysts have described the January sanctions as “anemic” or ineffectual. “The most important thing is to carry out the nuclear agreement, that’s the most important thing”.
After last week’s launches – including launches of rockets inscribed with messages calling for Israel’s destruction – Corker called on the administration and U.N. Security Council to “wake up and impose costs on Iran”, and warned that there was “already a strong bipartisan movement in the Senate to act”.
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“The reason we designed our missiles with a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) is to be able to hit our enemy the Zionist regime from a safe distance”, Brigadier-General Amir Ali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by Iran’s ISNA news agency.
