Iran’s missile test not violating UNSC resolution: Russian envoy to UN

EghtesadOnline: Technically or legally, one cannot argue that Iranians are violating any kind of prohibition imposed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said.

News ID: ۷۳۹۷۰۱

08 February 2017

Moscow hopes the tensions between the new White House administration, Iran and China will not result in any serious international showdown, the Russian envoy to the UN told Russia Today on Tuesday, adding that the current rhetoric appears to be an emotional response to reality, IRNA reported.

Commenting on recent anti-Iranian remarks by US President Donald Trump, Churkin pointed to the active role the Islamic Republic is playing in the fight against Daesh and acknowledged that Washington and Moscow “have differences in a number of areas, including on the role of Iran.”

With that, Churkin believes that some of the recent US rhetoric on Iran might have been influenced by emotions rather than rational policy-making and cold, hard facts.

“In international life, you have to differentiate between your emotions, what you want to see and what you have the right to expect from another country,” he said.

“On this outcry about Iran’s ballistic missile launches, I was surprised to hear even American experts speaking on CNN and calling it a violation of bans by the UN Security Council. Those bans were there before, all those bans were lifted,” Churkin said.

The UNSC resolution only “calls” on Iran not to conduct tests of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but does not impose any ban, he explained.

Moreover, any such capability has to be proven before accusations are voiced, he argued.

“So it’s just a call, not a prohibition. Technically or legally you cannot argue that they are violating any kind of a prohibition,” Churkin said.

Following the test of a medium-range ballistic missile by Iran on January 29, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, decried it as “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed retaliatory measures.

For its part, Iran reiterated that it had not breached any of its international obligations, stressing that “it will not allow foreigners to interfere in our defense affairs.”

Churkin believes that the existing tensions between the US and Iran would not result in a full-blown military conflict, although it could possibly influence US-Russian ties.