Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Security Council calling on it to act against the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program.
In the letter, Danon noted that at the beginning of the month Iran tried to launch a satellite into space using a missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
He noted that by taking this step, Iran was blatantly ignoring the call by the international community to desist from this type of activity that violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which accompanies the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
“The international community should view this as another provocative act that is part of Iran’s hostile ballistic missile program,” Danon wrote. “Iran’s efforts to promote this plan not only threaten its neighbors and the entire Middle East, but also a large part of Europe.”
“Iran has become the main supplier of ballistic missile technologies to Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, while providing these capabilities to non-state actors and terrorist operatives. I call on the Security Council to join the countries that have already taken steps to curb the threat of Iranian missiles,” the ambassador concluded.
Iran’s recent launches of satellites came despite US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warning to Iran to cease its efforts to develop ballistic missiles. Pompeo demanded that Iran drop its plans for a space launch, saying such actions would defy UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
UN Security Council resolution 2231, which the US says Iran violates with its ballistic missile tests, enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The resolution says Iran is “called upon” to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.
Iran, however, denies its ballistic missile tests violate this resolution. President Hassan Rouhani has stressed in the past that Iran will continue to produce missiles for its defense and does not consider that a violation of international agreements.
Earlier this month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers.
France has in the past expressed concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile program and has suggested that Iran could be sanctioned over it, though it has rejected the idea that these sanctions be tied to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
Source » israelnationalnews