UN experts say Iran missile firing violated UN sanctions

Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s governing board to close a probe into Iran’s past work relevant to building a nuclear bomb, a decision critics denounced as a “whitewash”. “We can not be complacent”.

Irans nuclear programme which it states is for peaceful purposes of energy production, but some other countries contend is driven by military ambitions has been a matter of global concern since the discovery in 2003 that it concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

United Nations experts said in the report that for Iran to reach that target date, it would have to carry out multiple tests.

“On the basis of its analysis and findings, the panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security Council resolution 1929”, said the report presented to the council last week and obtained by AFP on Tuesday.

Questions continue to be raised about Iran’s weapons programs.

“Earlier this month, Iran’s IAEA ambassador, Reza Najafi, rejected certain points in Amano’s report, saying it had certain negative points”, including allegations about some studies pertaining to the development of nuclear weapons, which are rejected by Iran.

Immediately following the October 10 launch, the U.S., France, Britain and Germany asked the Security Council to take “appropriate action” against Iran, and the 15-nation council is expected to discuss the report Tuesday.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA said afterwards that Tehran would now “accelerate” enacting July’s accord to scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, and fulfil its side of the bargain within “two to three weeks”. “The failure to impose consequences on Iran for its violation sets a risky precedent before implementation of the nuclear agreement when sanctions are lifted and the leverage shifts to Iran”. “This issue has a long and complex history, and the legacy of mistrust between Iran and the global community must be overcome”.

Iran’s firing of a medium-range ballistic missile in October violated global sanctions banning the Islamic republic from launches capable of delivering nuclear weapons, United Nations experts have said in a new report. However, they said Russian Federation and China, which dislike the sanctions on Iran’s missile program, might block any such moves. But the experts’ report noted that “ballistic missile launches would be covered” under the 20 July resolution.

Security Council resolution 1929 was created in 2010 and bans Iran from engaging in ballistic missile tests.

He said it “will obviously boost the strategic deterrence capability of our armed forces”.

Iran’s Minister of Defense Hussien Dehghan told Iranian media that Emad is the first surface-to-surface ballistic missile fully designed and built by Iran, and can be precision-guided until it reaches its target. It said the Ghadr-1 was an advanced version of Iran’s Shabab-3 ballistic missile system and the re-entry vehicle had a guidance system and steerable fins.