The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has said that based on a new report by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres putting additional pressure on Iran for its malign behaviour could lead to a new resolution against the Regime or strengthen those already in place.
Haley made these comments at a briefing on UN Security Council resolution 2231, which enshrines the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. She also said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be included in a resolution based on its many violations.
She said: “Based on the U.N. report, we have an opportunity to confront the Iranian regime for its actions that are clearly in violation of Security Council resolutions. The international community must demonstrate that we are committed to ensuring accountability for the full spectrum of Iran’s malign behaviour. The Security Council must follow through on the violations listed in the Secretary-General’s report.”
She implored delegates not to ignore these violations when dealing with the Iranian Regime; highlighting the illegal transfer of missiles to the terrorist Houthis in Yemen and the development of ballistic missiles. The report pointed to evidence that the missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia by the Houthis were incredibly similar to Iranian ones.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman confirmed that while the UN was still analyzing the ballistic missiles, their preliminary analysis showed that the Houthis’ missiles had similar features to the Iranian Qiam-1 and, among other things, had castings “similar to that of an Iranian entity on a 2231 sanctions list”.
Much of the report focused on Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) but Haley explained that there was a difference between the JCPOA and Resolution 2231. The JCPOA doesn’t directly address non-nuclear behaviour, but the resolution certainly does and insisted that the Iranian Regime be held to account for this.
Haley said: “We must not allow ourselves to be held hostage to the nuclear agreement or treat Iran any different than we would any other country violating a resolution.”
A senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the behaviour of the Iranians has not been moderated and they have launched up to 23 missiles since the JCPOA was signed.
He said: “A close look at Iran’s behaviour since that resolution was passed reveals a flagrant disregard by Tehran for both the letter and spirit of this U.N. resolution. This disregard should dampen the illusions harboured by those who hope the JCPOA nuclear deal can moderate Iranian behaviour.”
It appears that this all ties in with Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy.
A national security advisor close to the White House said: “There’s a reason the Trump administration was set on creating its NSS in the first year, much earlier than previous administrations have managed, and that’s because they wanted to make sure the president’s vision and sensibility about the world was incorporated into the rest of the U.S.’s strategies. One of those places is with Iran, where there will be a comprehensive strategy addressing what Ambassador Haley is already working to sensitise people to.”
Source » ncr-iran