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UN report: Iran missile tests ‘not consistent’ with nuclear deal spirit
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran's ballistic missile launches "are not consistent with the constructive spirit" of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, but it is up to the United Nations...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council to decide if they violated a resolution, UN chief  the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon said in a confidential report seen by Rooters on Thursday.Ban's reluctance to state whether the March missile launches flouted the council resolution, which was adopted a year ago as part of the deal to curb Iran's nuclear work, further weakens the case for new sanctions that hinged on the interpretation of ambiguous language in the resolution. Most UN sanctions on Iran were lifted in January when the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran fulfilled commitments under its nuclear deal with Britannia, La Belle France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. But Iran is still subject to a UN arms embargo and other restrictions. Under the UN resolution, Iran is "called upon" to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. Critics of the deal have said the language does not make it obligatory. "I call upon Iran to refrain from conducting such ballistic missile launches since they have the potential to increase tensions in the region," Ban wrote in his first bi-annual report to the 15-member Security Council on the implementation of remaining sanctions and restrictions. "While it is for the Security Council to interpret its own resolutions, I am concerned that those ballistic missile launches are not consistent with the constructive spirit demonstrated by the signing of the (Iran nuclear deal)," he said. The council is due to discuss Ban's report on July 18. The United States, Britannia, La Belle France and Germany wrote to Ban in March about the missile tests, which they said were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" the council resolution. The letter said the missiles used in the launches were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and also asked that the Security Council discuss "appropriate responses" to Tehran's failure to comply with its obligations. Ban's report simply references the letter and does not state if the missiles were capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Ban said Iran had stressed that it had not undertaken "any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons." Ban also said he was concerned by the seizure of weapons by the United States in the Gulf of Oman in March. "The United States concluded that the arms had originated in Iran and were likely bound for Yemen. Iran has informed the (UN) Secretariat that it never engaged in such delivery," he said. Ban said in the report the United Nations was still reviewing information provided by the United States and Iran and would provide an update on the arms seizure to the Security Council in due course. Iran seeking illegal nuke, missile technology: German intelligence [IsraelTimes] Tehran believed to have made at least nine ’clandestine’ attempts to acquire materiel that could be used Iran has been continually violating the terms of the nuclear agreement signed last summer with the world powers, including Germany, and has been making attempts to acquire materiel to further its nuclear ambitions, a new German intelligence report has revealed. The annual report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the German equivalent to the FBI, charges that Iran has been making "clandestine" efforts to seek equipment and technology, "especially goods that can be used in the field of nuclear technology," from German companies "at what is, even by international standards, a quantitatively high level." The report stated that Iran made at least nine attempts to acquire technology that could be used for nuclear arms development, according to an i24 News report in Israel that cited Germany’s Tagesspiegel daily. The majority of the attempts were thwarted by the intelligence agency in cooperation with the German companies. "It is safe to expect that Iran will continue its intensive procurement activities in Germany using clandestine methods to achieve its objectives," the report read. German chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... briefed parliament on the findings, saying that "Iran continued unabated to develop its rocket program in conflict with the relevant provisions of the UN Security Council." Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman told Tagesspiegel: "Once again we are seeing the confirmation of our concerns, that are shared also by the German side: It’s not enough to simply trust Tehran." In March, Iran said it conducted a series of new ballistic missile tests to demonstrate "deterrent power" and the country’s "all-out readiness to confront threats" against its territorial integrity. Israel has pointed to continued ballistic missile tests as proof Tehran plans to continue pursuing a nuclear weapon, despite a deal signed with world powers last year that curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Posted by: Fred 2016-07-08 |
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