The United States, along with Britain, France and Germany, has submitted a report to the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on the launch of a medium range ballistic missile by Iran on October 10. The four nations are requesting that the Committee, with the support of the independent UN Panel of Experts, review the matter and take appropriate action.
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Security Council Asked to Investigate Iran Missile Test
In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power noted that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 requires Iran not to “undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology.” She called the launch “provocative,” and “another clear violation of UN sanctions.” Ambassador Power said the United States considers the missile launch “a serious matter" that "undermines regional stability.”
White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest noted that Iran has a history of “violat[ing] the international community’s concerns about their ballistic missile program:”
“The U.N. Security Council resolution actually gives the international community some tools to interdict some equipment and material that could be used to advance their ballistic missile program, and gives us the ability to work in concert with our partners around the world to engage a strategy to try to disrupt continued progress of their ballistic missile program.”
White House Spokesperson Earnest observed, however, that the missile launch is “altogether separate” from the comprehensive nuclear accord that Iran reached with the European Union and the P5 +1 countries in July.
In contrast to their behavior regarding ballistic missiles, the Iranians, he said, have a track record of abiding by the commitments they’ve made in the context of the nuclear talks. Mr. Earnest emphasized that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is not predicated on trust, but on “the most robust, intrusive set of inspections that have ever been imposed on a country’s nuclear program.”
In an interview with the Voice of America, Ambassador Power said, “It’s in everyone’s interests to see the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear weapons program…We have got to do both at once – we have to hold Iran accountable for its violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and we have to move forward and ensure that it does not pose a threat and does not obtain a nuclear weapon.”