Iran Criticizes UN Secretary-General's Report on Resolution 2231 Again

The spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry described the UN Secretary-General's six-month report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231 as "completely biased," "partisan," "unbalanced," and "contrary to the spirit and text" of the Vienna nuclear agreement, stating that the report was prepared "under clear pressure from the United States." According to the state news agency IRNA, Bahram Qasemi expressed concern over the report's remarks regarding Iran's missile tests, labeling them as "completely biased and partisan" and "against the explicit text" of Security Council Resolution 2231. He emphasized that the Secretary-General of the UN "merely relied on criteria announced by the United States and disregarded all professional principles, completely overstepping his authority in this matter." Qasemi called the effort to "repeat the confrontational approach" of the UN Security Council against Iran a "counterproductive action" that would "poison the prevailing spirit of the JCPOA and the positive atmosphere created as a result of it." The spokesperson also stated that the Secretary-General's reporting is "a bureaucratic and repetitive process that is merely explanatory and devoid of any practical follow-up" by the UN Security Council. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, in a report to the members of the Security Council, parts of which were published last week by Reuters, stated that Iran's missile tests are "inconsistent with the spirit" of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Security Council Resolution 2231, issued after the Vienna nuclear agreement to endorse it, calls on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran argues that its missile tests do not contradict the nuclear agreement, asserting that "the tested missiles were not designed to carry nuclear warheads." However, the US, France, Britain, and Germany in a joint letter to the UN Security Council in April of this year called for a response to Iran's missile tests and requested Ban Ki-moon to declare that these tests are inconsistent with Resolution 2231. In another part of his remarks, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson deemed the Secretary-General's reference to the "shortcomings" of Western parties in fulfilling their commitments under the JCPOA as a "positive step." Qasemi also expressed regret over the "simple passing over of these issues" and the "evasion" of the "serious request" for the 5+1 group to adhere to its commitments. He emphasized the necessity of "reciprocal and sincere action by all parties in fully and timely fulfilling all their commitments" regarding the Vienna nuclear agreement, threatening that Iran would "take appropriate reciprocal action in the event of non-compliance by the other party." Iranian Foreign Ministry officials have previously protested against US congressional resolutions, accusing the country of "bad faith" in implementing the Vienna nuclear agreement while stating that the agreement has not been violated by the US. Nevertheless, some political groups in Iran have repeatedly spoken of the US violating this agreement, with Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, accusing the US of having "violated" the agreement without providing details. The accusation of US obstruction in the implementation of the JCPOA is made by Iran, while US officials reject this claim, stating that they have acted even "beyond their commitments" under the nuclear agreement. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials have previously reacted to the UN Secretary-General's report. Abbas Araghchi, head of the JCPOA Implementation Follow-up Committee, stated on Sunday that Iran's missile program "does not fall within the framework of Resolution 2231" and that "neither the UN Secretary-General nor anyone else has the right to accuse Iran regarding its missile program." On Tuesday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, deemed the recent positions of the UN Secretary-General as "irrelevant" and added: "Unfortunately, the UN Secretary-General has not left a very good record for himself in recent years." Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expressed concern last week about Iran's missile programs. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, considered the timing of these statements as indicative of a "conspiracy."