UN Nuclear Agency Ends Iran Probe

Iran went on to test the surface-to-surface Emad rocket on October 10.

The report submitted to the U.N. Security Council and seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday said the launch used ballistic missile technology banned under a June 2010 resolution.

While the launches may have violated U.N. Security Council sanctions, they did not violate the nuclear deal, diplomats noted.

However, Russia and China, whcih dislike sanctions on Iran’s missile program, may block such moves.

Their conclusion will likely lead to calls for expanding sanctions against Tehran in London, Paris and Washington.

According to a confidential report obtained by Reuters, the United Nation Security Council’s Panel of Experts reviewed Iran’s testing of an Emad ballistic missile and found the regime was in violation of a Security Council resolution.

It said the panel considered ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons to be those that can deliver at least a 500-kg (1,102-pound) payload within a range of at least 300 km (185 miles). Iran also has to change the design of a new nuclear reactor being built at Arak so that it produces substantially less plutonium, the alternative to uranium in a nuclear weapon.

“The selection by the Board of Governors today … will start a new phase for co-operation between Iran and the agency”, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters following the resolution was passed by consensus – that is, unopposed.

Under the July nuclear deal most sanctions on Iran will be lifted when its provisions are implemented in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The security council has not determined what actions to take, if any, against Iran, but said “the council could not allow Iran to feel it could violate its resolutions with impunity”.

Iran has one of the largest missile programmes in the Middle East.

France emphasized the importance of an “appropriate response” after the United Nations report’s findings and Britain’s envoy Matthew Rycroft said the council must “respond effectively to what appears to be a breach”.

An additional semi-annual report from the administration also will provide detailed information regarding Iran’s nuclear-related activities, including work on ballistic missiles, said officials.

Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says he had “no credible indications” of activities in Iran relevant to nuclear development after 2009.

A key step in the implementation process occurred in Vienna on Tuesday, when the board of governors of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, voted to close their investigation of Iran’s past nuclear weapons efforts.

The U.N. nuclear agency has officially closed its more than decade-old investigation into allegations Iran once worked to develop nuclear weapons.