UN Committee: Iran Violated a Resolution with 'Emad' Test

A team of Iran sanctions observers in a recent report states that the mid-range missile test of Emad conducted by Iran less than two months ago violates a UN Security Council resolution. According to Reuters, the team in its report claims that the Emad missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, which constitutes a violation under paragraph nine of Security Council Resolution 1929. This ten-page report, recently submitted to the Security Council sanctions committee, is set to be discussed in a new Security Council meeting on Tuesday, December 15. Iran announced on October 11 the successful test of a new generation of ground-to-ground missile named 'Emad', stating that 'this missile can strike designated targets with high precision and completely destroy them.' American officials have claimed that the Emad missile has the capability to carry a nuclear warhead, a claim that Iran has denied. However, the team of experts monitoring Iran's sanctions states in its new report that it considers missiles capable of carrying a payload of 500 kilograms to a range of 300 kilometers as having nuclear warhead capability. The team has assessed that the range of the 'Emad' missile exceeds one thousand kilometers and its payload capacity is also more than one thousand kilograms. According to this report, Iran also utilized 'ballistic missile technology' in the Emad launch test. This team's report comes after the United States, Britain, France, and Germany requested in October that the UN sanctions committee take action and respond to the Emad missile test. Reuters reports that the Iranian delegation to the UN has not yet responded to the agency's requests for comment on this news. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, emphasized after the negative reactions from Western powers to the Emad missile test that 'none of the missiles of the Islamic Republic of Iran are designed for nuclear capability.' Security Council Resolution 1929, which prohibits Iran from testing ballistic missiles, was adopted in 2010; this resolution will remain in effect until the date the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group, the 'Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action', is implemented. In this context, the United States is 'seriously' reviewing Iran's new missile test.