UN Security Council Meeting on Iran's Missile Test Ends 'Without Result'

The UN Security Council's consultative meeting regarding Iran's recent missile test ended 'without result'. According to AFP, the Russian representative at the UN stated after the meeting that 'we agreed this action is not a violation of the resolution'. The Security Council convened behind closed doors on Monday, March 15, at the request of the United States to review Iran's recent missile test, as the US believes that Iran's missile tests are 'destabilizing and provocative'. Samantha Power, the US representative at the UN, deemed Iran's actions 'worthy of a Security Council response' and added that despite the hints heard on this matter, we will not be discouraged from our efforts in the Security Council. Ms. Power accused Russia of seeking a legal justification to refrain from action in this regard, referring to Russia's position that it does not believe Iran's recent missile test constitutes a violation of the UN Security Council resolution. After the UN meeting, it was the Russian representative who first shared his account of what transpired during the meeting with reporters. Vitaly Churkin stated that 'the discussions of this meeting had a very satisfactory outcome' and emphasized 'we agreed that this action is not a violation of the UN resolution'. He clarified that the term 'request' in the recent Security Council resolution regarding Iran creates a significant change in legal language compared to previous texts that prohibited Iran from developing missile technology. Security Council Resolution 2231, issued after the Vienna nuclear agreement and aimed at confirming it, calls on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran relies on this issue to argue that its missile tests are not in contradiction with the nuclear agreement, asserting that 'the tested missiles were not tested for the purpose of carrying nuclear warheads'. The Russian representative at the UN has also emphasized that 'a request is different from a prohibition, and legally you cannot violate a request'. He added that the new resolution emphasizes that missiles must be 'designed' for nuclear use, 'clearly setting more requirements for proving [Iran's violation]'. AFP's report on the lack of result in the Security Council meeting noted that the only decision made in this meeting was to refer the continued examination of the issue to a special committee established by the Security Council to monitor the implementation of the JCPOA. Despite the inconclusive outcome of the Security Council meeting, the White House stated that it does not rule out additional sanctions against Iran and is working to coordinate its response to this issue with other countries. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said that 'he cannot rule out the possibility of additional sanctions against Iran, whether from the international community or solely from the US'. He stated that such action would be part of the US response. Earlier this year, in August, US Secretary of State John Kerry had stated that violations of Iran's arms embargo or missile restrictions would not automatically trigger the return of UN sanctions under the nuclear agreement, although other options are available in this regard. Mr. Kerry also emphasized on Sunday after meeting with foreign ministers from several European countries in Paris that 'missile concerns remain as part of sanctionable activities' and added 'if the violation [of the resolution] is Iran's desire, they will face additional sanctions, just as we imposed last month as a consequence of previous missile tests'. Last month, in response to the Emad missile test, the US added 11 individuals and entities to its sanctions list, although Iran insisted that the Emad missile is a conventional missile.