US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran on Thursday that its planned launch of three rockets as part of its space program constituted “defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” a July 2015 endorsement by the Security Council of the Iran nuclear deal.
The three space launch vehicles, Pompeo said in a statement released by the State Department, “incorporate technology that is virtually identical to that used in ballistic missiles, including in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
“An ICBM with a range of 10,000km could reach the United States.”
Pompeo warned the US “will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime’s destructive policies place international stability and security at risk.”
He raised the specter of further sanctions, saying, “We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation.”
#Iran plans to fire off Space Launch Vehicles with virtually same technology as ICBMs. The launch will advance its missile program. US, France, UK & Germany have already stated this is in defiance of UNSCR 2231. We won't stand by while the regime threatens international security.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2019
Resolution 2231 does not expressly forbid Iran from developing ballistic missiles, but it says Tehran is “called upon” not to “undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”
According to Pompeo, Iran’s Ministry of Defense “has publicly announced plans to launch” the three new missiles “in the coming months,” which would “once again demonstrate Iran’s defiance of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2231.”
The US, together with allies Britain, France, and Germany, has repeatedly accused Iran of defying the resolution with its missile tests.
One such charge was leveled in March 2016, just months after the nuclear deal’s approval.
On December 1, 2018 Pompeo said in his statement, “the Iranian regime test-fired a medium range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force later said that Iran tests 40 to 50 ballistic missiles every year.”
Such tests, the US said, “have a destabilizing effect on the region and beyond. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and many nations from around the world have also expressed deep concern.”
Pompeo’s statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump said Iranian forces in Syria “can do what they want there, frankly,” and suggested Tehran was removing its troops from the country.
Trump’s statement came two weeks after he rattled Jerusalem as well as America’s Syrian Kurdish allies by announcing that he would pull all 2,000 US troops out of Syria. US soldiers have been leading the coalition against the Islamic State terror group, while also helping to thwart the establishment of permanent Iranian military infrastructure in Syria.
Israeli officials have warned that America’s absence would open the door for Tehran to create a so-called “land bridge” from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, into Lebanon and to the Mediterranean Sea.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of the security cabinet, sought to downplay Trump’s actions and comments, saying Thursday, “I don’t understand why they’re trying to recycle this drama time and again.”
While Israel may have preferred that US troops remain in Syria, the American president had the prerogative to withdraw them whenever he saw fit, he said.
Trump’s decision on Syria does not alter his commitment to Israel’s security, the senior minister insisted. “We never relied on US troops in Syria. All together we’re talking about 2,000 troops and our policy to prevent Iran’s entrancement in Syria is based exclusively on the IDF and the government’s policy and not on the US presence,” he said.
On Tuesday, Pompeo told Netanyahu that the planned withdrawal of US ground forces from Syria will not alter America’s commitment to countering Iranian aggression and maintaining Israel’s security.
“The decision by the president on Syria in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel,” Pompeo said at a joint press conference with Netanyahu before they held talks in Brazil.
Trump said last week that he did not think America removing its troops from Syria would endanger Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment