UN Secretary-General: Iran's Missile Tests Have Caused Concern

The UN Secretary-General stated on Wednesday that Iran's ballistic missile tests have caused "concern and fear," and it is now up to the global powers to determine whether new sanctions should be imposed on Iran. According to Reuters, Ban Ki-moon made these remarks on April 11 during a conference on Syrian refugees in Geneva, referring to the recent missile tests by the Islamic Republic. He said, "Iran has launched ballistic missiles after this agreement [with global powers]. The reality is that this issue has caused concern and fear." He then stated, "However, what penalties should be considered or what actions should be taken is up to the members of the Security Council." The United States, Britain, France, three permanent members of the Security Council, along with Germany, recently sent a letter to the UN Security Council describing Iran's recent missile tests as "disregard" for the Security Council resolution and called for an appropriate response from the council. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched two ballistic missiles during a drill on March 10, with one having a range of 2,000 kilometers and the other 1,700 kilometers. This event prompted a reaction from the United States, which imposed new unilateral sanctions on certain individuals and companies in Iran. Meanwhile, the Security Council also held a consultative meeting on this issue, which ended without results. Iran insists that the missiles tested by the Revolutionary Guard are not capable of carrying nuclear warheads and therefore their testing does not violate the nuclear agreement or the Security Council resolution. However, the US, UK, France, and Germany claim that these missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In this context, the US sanctioned six companies and two individuals related to Iran's missile program. Iran's response to the new sanctions was that its missile program does not violate the resolutions. Zarif stated that the US election propaganda regarding the JCPOA should not be taken seriously. Khamenei sharply criticized the "aware" opponents of missile testing within the country.