Alwaght- Western powers have accelerated their rhetoric against Iran’s missile defense program despite the fact that the Islamic Republic has implemented its commitments in a landmark nuclear deal with six world powers.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told parliament in Berlin on Thursday that missile launches by Iran earlier this year were inconsistent with a U.N. resolution urging it to refrain for up to eight years from missile work designed to deliver nuclear weapons.
On the same day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claimed that Iran is keeping its pledge to reduce its nuclear program but that it isn’t cooperating on other issues such as restrictions on its ballistic missile program. Iran’s ballistic missile launches “are not consistent with the constructive spirit" of the agreement between the government in Tehran and six world powers, Ban said in a report that was marked “confidential.”
“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 biannual report to the 15-member Security Council.
New Plot against Iran
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi blasted recent remarks by the UN and German leaders as indicative of a new plot against the country
"I feel that they are paving the ground to cook a new plot against us and we should be on the alert," Salehi told the state-run TV on Saturday commenting on the recent remarks made by the UN chief and German Chancellor.
Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign ministry also lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her "unconstructive" comments against Tehran's missile program, and underlined the country's firm determination to continue progress in defense fields.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced many times that its missile program is fully defensive and has not been designed to carry nuclear warheads at all; therefore, it doesn’t violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and is no way related to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers inked last July)," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Saturday.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated that it will highly strongly continue its missile program based on its defensive doctrines and national security calculus and such remarks have no influence on the country's legitimate missile program at all," he added.
Meanwhile in response to outbursts by Merkel and Ban, the chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi has warned that Western countries are hatching a “new plot” against Iran over its missile program, saying, however, that the Islamic Republic will wisely respond to such moves.
The Iranian legislator said simultaneous comments made by the UN chief and the German chancellor are portend a new plot against Iran.
“Western leaders resort to political and unprofessional remarks to promote themselves; however, Iran’s diplomatic officials have given and will respond to them with vigilance,” Boroujerdi said.
He emphasized that Iran’s missile program has nothing to do with the JCPOA, saying, “Iran’s missiles are not able to carry nuclear warheads and are merely [aimed at] increasing the country’s defensive power.”
He added that Iran has showed its goodwill in implementing its obligations under the JCPOA and will use the country’s weapons to defend its territorial integrity against threats.
Early March, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles dubbed Qadr-H , Qadr-F, and Qiam. Last October Iran also successfully test fired its precision guided long range Emad missile.
Western powers especially the US have long been opposed to Iran’s missile defense program. They claim that missiles used in Iran’s recent tests were “inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons” and were “inconsistent with” and “in defiance of” UNSC Resolution 2231 (2015), adopted last July to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries composed of China, Russia, US, Britain, France, and Germany .
The claim comes even as Resolution 2231 does not prohibit Iran from testing missiles, and only “calls upon” the Islamic Republic to refrain from developing missiles “designed to be capable of” carrying nuclear warheads.
Iran has made clear that it does not seek to build nuclear warheads to be carried on missiles and has put its atomic activities under unprecedented, enhanced international supervision under the nuclear deal with the P5+1.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin reiterated that, in the view of veto-wielding Russia, Iran’s ballistic missile tests did not violate Resolution 2231.
The Islamic Republic of Iran maintains that considering worsening insecurity in the region and the fact that many countries are spending hefty sums on deadly arms purchases especially from Western countries, it needs to boost its defensive missile program.
