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Britain, France, Germany seek full UN report of Iran missile activity

Britain France Germany seek full UN report of Iran missile activity
Britain, France, Germany seek full UN report of Iran missile activity

2019-04-02 00:00:00 - Source: Baghdad Post

Britain, France and Germany are accusing Iran of developing

missile technology, following recent activities, that they said was

inconsistent with a UN resolution, and are calling for a full UN report,

according to a letter released Tuesday.

The European trio cited Iran's launch of a space vehicle and

the unveiling of two new ballistic missiles in February as forming "part

of trend of increased activity inconsistent" with the resolution,

according to the letter sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231 -- adopted just after

the 2015 nuclear deal -- calls on Iran "not to undertake any activity

related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear

weapons."

Tehran insists that its missile program is defensive and

that it has no intention of developing a nuclear capability.

The three countries asked Guterres to "report fully and

throughly on Iranian ballistic missile activity" in his next report, which

is expected in June.

The letter from the European countries, which are

signatories to the nuclear deal along with the United States and Russia, came

nearly a month after the United States made a similar appeal to the council,

saying it was time to bring back tougher international restrictions on Tehran.

President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the

nuclear accord in May last year and reimposed sanctions on Iran, citing

concerns about missile development among its reasons.

At a council meeting in December, US Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo called for tighter restrictions on Iran to curb its missile program but

Russia flatly asserted that there was no proof that Iran's missiles can carry a

nuclear payload.

The European countries said the Safir space launch vehicle

used for a satellite blastoff on February 6 is based on two other missiles and

uses technology closely related to the development of long-range and

intercontinental ballistic missiles.

On February 7, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards

unveiled the Dezful surface-to-surface missile which they claimed had a range

of 1,000 kilometers, according to the letter sent on March 25.

During a public display in Tehran on February 4, Iran

revealed a variant of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile that the letter said

was "potentially an intermediate-range ballistic missile."

Iran reined in most of its nuclear program under the

landmark nuclear deal with major powers but has kept up development of its

ballistic missile technology.





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