Friday 8 March 2019 - 21:46
Story Code : 341339
US accuses Iran of defying UN resolution, calls for tough bans
In a letter to the 15-member council, acting US Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen said Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile on Dec. 1, 2018, and attempted to place satellites in orbit on Jan. 15 and Feb. 5.
Iran has carried out these three launches in defiance of the expressed will of the UN Security Council, and such provocations continue to destabilize the entire Middle East region, Cohen claimed.
Cohens letter called upon the council to join us in imposing real consequences on Iran for its flagrant defiance of the councils demands and bring back tougher international restrictions to deter Irans missile program.
The US claims about Irans violation come as Washington turned into a gross violator of the resolution after unlawfully leaving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and imposing unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
Resolution 2231 terminated the provisions of previous UNresolutions against Iran, some of which had imposed restrictions on Iranian missile activities.
Such activities are not prohibited under Resolution 2231, which merely "calls on"Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Tehran has always emphasized that it has no nuclear warheads and that none of its missiles have been designed to carry nuclear weapons.
In remarks made on Thursday, IRGC deputycommander Brigadier General Hossein Salami said the Islamic Republic is increasing its military power in order to counter any type of threat posed by its adversaries.
"Today the Islamic Republic has learned that it must respond to the enemy's war on the Islamic Revolution ... with the language of force and in the battleground," he said.
He also noted that the countrys defense power is being strengthened with a rapid and unstoppable pace.
Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari, the commander of the Iranian Armys ground forces, also said on Thursday that the countrys military is more prepared than ever, and has upgraded all its equipment based on the state-of-the-art technologies.
If the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran make any stupid move, our response will be strong and crushing, he noted.
Today the Iranian armed forces, the Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)and other military forces are stronger than ever, and the enemies would be eliminated in a very short time if make any stupid move, General Heidari warned.
His warning came after Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu issued another military threat against Iran, this time saying that the regimes navy could take action against Iranian oil shipments.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony of Israeli navy cadets in Haifa on Wednesday, Netanyahu claimed that Iran was trying to covertly ship fuel over maritime routes to circumvent unilateral US sanctions.
To the extent that these attempts widen, the navy will have a more important role in blocking these Iranian actions, Netanyahu threatened.
The Israeli premier also urged the international community to stop Irans attempts to circumvent the sanctions by sea, and of course, by any (other) means.
This is while the international community has been critical of Washingtons withdrawal in May 2018 from the nuclear deal and the ensuing re-imposition of the economic sanctions, which had been lifted under the nuclear deal.
Speaking on the sidelines of an anti-Iran meeting in Warsaw last month, Netanyahuopenly calledfor war with Iran.
In addition, he frequently threatens to target Iranian military advisers in Syria, where they are helping the Arab country in its fight against Israeli-backed militants.
In August 2018, the Israeli prime minister threatened Iran withatomicannihilation right from the regimes secretive atomic weapons facility.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned Israel against carrying out the threats, saying a crushing response awaits the aggressors.
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