EU Says Iran’s Missile Test No Breach of JCPOA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A European Union foreign affairs spokeswoman said Iran’s recent missile test was not a violation of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Nabila Massrali, the spokeswoman for EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that “the Iranian ballistic-missile program was not part” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Hence the tests are not a violation of it,” she added as cited by Bloomberg.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) reached the nuclear deal in July 2015 and implemented it in January last year.
Massrali also said it was up to the United Nations to determine if the test is in breach of the UNSC Resolution 2231 or not.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan confirmed that the country has carried out a missile test recently, stressing that the Islamic Republic will not allow others to interfere in its defense affairs.
He further underscored that Iran’s missile tests are by no means in contravention of the JCPOA or the UNSC Resolution 2231.
Resolution 2231 calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”
Iran, however, maintains that none of its missiles have been designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, because nuclear weapons have basically no place in the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine.