West’s Accusations against Iran over Missile Tests "Unconvincing": Russia


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms control, described the West’s accusations against Iran over its recent missile launches as “unconvincing”.

"The Iranians are not violating anything. There is not a word in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) about missiles, only the (UN) resolution, to be more precise the addendum to the resolution mentions them. But again, we are talking about a 'call upon' (not actual ban)," Ulyanov said as cited by Sputnik on Tuesday.

"It is impossible to violate an appeal, it can only be ignored, and that's what is happening…So, the accusations (against Iran) sound unconvincing, because the new resolution mentions only nuclear-capable missiles…but nobody has ever managed to prove that those (Iranian) missiles have been specifically designed to carry nuclear warheads," he added.

Earlier, US, Britain, France, and Germany sent a joint letter to Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and UN Chief Ban Ki-moon, claiming that the Islamic Republic’s recent missile launches were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" the resolution 2231.

On July 20, 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2231, which calls on Iran not to develop missiles “designed to carry nuclear warheads.”

This is while Iran has repeatedly announced that test of missiles is an issue relating to defense of its territorial integrity and that none of its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.

On March 9, the country’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces test-fired two types of Qadr ballistic missiles during the large-scale drills, codenamed “Might of Velayat”.

The two ballistic missiles, Qadr-H and Qadr-F, were launched from the heights of East Alborz Mountains, north of Iran, and hit targets on the Makran coasts, southeast of the country.

According to reports, Qadr-H missile has a range of 1,700 kilometers while Qadr-F missile can destroy targets some 2,000 kilometers away.