U.S. and Russia Criticize UN Secretary-General's Report on Iran Agreement

On Monday, the United States and Russia criticized Ban Ki-moon's report regarding the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which was issued to confirm the nuclear agreement. Following the implementation of the nuclear agreement or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers, all nuclear sanctions against Tehran were lifted. However, Iran still faces restrictions on the development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. According to Reuters, Jeffrey Feltman, head of political affairs at the UN, briefed the 15 members of the UN Security Council on Ban Ki-moon's report regarding the implementation of Resolution 2231 and the remaining sanctions against Iran. Samantha Power, the U.S. representative to the UN, stated that the United States strongly opposes parts of this report, including sections that go beyond the established dimensions and horizons. She noted that Iran also strongly disagrees with parts of this report. The U.S. representative added, 'While some believe this report should have been balanced, it should have given Iran the opportunity to present its complaints regarding the reduction of sanctions,' despite the Security Council not allowing Ban Ki-moon to report on these issues. The UN Secretary-General's report indicated that Iran complained about not being able to benefit fully from the lifting of nuclear sanctions, including concerns over restrictions imposed by the U.S. and the seizure of Iran's central bank assets by a U.S. court ruling. In this context, Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN representative, stated that the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of the nuclear agreement contains errors and that issues referred to as 'limitations' on Iran's ballistic missile program do not align with the subject of the report. The Russian representative added that some provisions of the Secretary-General's report have no relation to his agenda or the resolution regarding the nuclear program. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson previously described the six-month report of the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of Resolution 2231 as 'completely biased,' 'partisan,' 'unbalanced,' and 'contrary to the spirit and text' of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Bahram Qasemi on Monday called attempts to 'repeat the confrontational approach' of the UN Security Council against Iran 'a counterproductive action' that 'will poison the prevailing spirit of the JCPOA and the positive atmosphere created as a result.' Ban Ki-moon, in a report to the members of the Security Council, stated that Iran's missile tests are 'inconsistent with the spirit' of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Resolution 2231, issued after the Vienna nuclear agreement to confirm 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 tested for the purpose of carrying nuclear warheads.' However, the U.S., France, the UK, 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 state that these tests are inconsistent with Resolution 2231.