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Iran Tests New Precision-Guided Ballistic Missile in Violation of UNSC Resolution

by TheTower.org Staff |

Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile in violation of an existing United Nations Security Council resolution, Reuters reported Sunday.

Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile on Sunday in defiance of a United Nations ban, signaling an apparent advance in Iranian attempts to improve the accuracy of its missile arsenal. …

The U.N. Security Council prohibits foreign powers from assisting Iran in developing its ballistic missile program in any way, a ban that will remain in place under the terms of the July 14 nuclear deal that will see other sanctions lifted.

The United Nations also prohibits Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles that could deliver a nuclear warhead, which applies to the Emad, but Iranian officials have pledged to ignore the ban.

While the nuclear deal with Iran calls for lifting various restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s military programs, the ban on ballistic missile development is to last eight years from the time of implementation. U.N. Security Council resolution 2231, which was adopted days after Iran and the P5+1 powers signed a nuclear agreement this July, prohibits Iran from developing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which ballistic missiles are capable of. A report in The New York Times this Saturday suggested that the missile test “may have violated the terms of the agreement.”

Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan boasting that the missile launch had been successful.

Emad, he said, is the first Iran’s long-range missile that can be directed and controlled till it strikes the target.

Emad is also capable of scrutinizing the targets and destroying them completely, the minister said.

‘To follow our defense programs, we don’t ask permission from anyone,’ stressed Dehqan.

Dehghan’s defiant statement echoes that of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who said after the unveiling of a new ballistic missile in August, “We will buy, sell and develop any weapons we need and we will not ask for permission or abide by any resolution for that.” Tehran has continued developing ballistic missiles during the talks with the P5+1 powers, and has further advanced the program since the conclusion of negotiations, challenging the terms of the nuclear agreement.

Iran has also routinely violated other U.N. resolutions, including by allowing the operation of a sanctioned airline and the travel of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qassem Soleimani to Moscow, despite U.N. restrictions against allowing the general to travel internationally. Both of these violations were critical to supporting a recently launched offensive spearheaded by Russia and Iran against rebels fighting the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

[Photo: Haaretz.com / YouTube ]

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