Iran's Missile Program and NATO's Sensitivity

According to Fars News Agency, Bahram Qasemi, spokesman and head of the Public Diplomacy and Media Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed the concerns raised in the final statement of the NATO summit regarding the missile program of the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling it a repetition of what he termed baseless claims from the past. Mr. Qasemi stated that Iran's missile capabilities are solely within the framework of what he described as 'legitimate' defensive programs of the Islamic Republic and are in no way designed for carrying nuclear warheads. The Foreign Ministry spokesman also emphasized that Iran's missile program has no connection to the JCPOA or nuclear negotiations and does not violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Iran's reaction pertains to paragraph 68 of the final statement of the NATO summit held in Warsaw, Poland, which expressed concern over Iran's development of ballistic missiles and continued testing, deeming it inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 while supporting the nuclear agreement with the 1+5 countries. Hussein Aryan, a military analyst in the UK, commented on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's stance in response to NATO's final statement, stating that Iranian officials' claims that Iran's missile tests do not contradict the Security Council resolution are somewhat acceptable. Last Thursday, Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, in a government statement on the occasion of the NATO summit in Warsaw, described Russia's criticisms and concerns about NATO's missile defense deployment as unfounded and explained the establishment of a missile shield in Southern Europe, including the potential threat of missile attacks from Iran, stating: 'Iran is clearly in contradiction with the decisions and regulations of the UN Security Council, aggressively pursuing its missile program, and the historic Vienna agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program has not changed this policy.' Last week, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, in his yet-to-be-released six-month report to the Security Council, which Reuters reported having, urged Iran to refrain from testing ballistic missiles, as such tests, according to the UN Secretary-General, are inconsistent with the 'constructive spirit' of the nuclear agreement and have the potential to increase tensions in the region.