Missile tests no violation of JCPOA, UN Resolution: Iran

Iran says its latest launch of ballistic missiles does not violate the nuclear agreement it reached with the P5+1 group of countries and is not in contravention of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

The missile launch is “neither inconsistent with Iran’s commitments under the JCPOA, nor is it against the Security Council Resolution 2231,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari said on Thursday

He was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed between Tehran and the P5+1 group –  Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – last year.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two more ballistic missiles on Wednesday as part of military drills to assess their capabilities.

The missiles dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F were fired during large-scale drills, code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat.

Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Division Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said Qadr-H missile has a range of 1,700 kilometers while Qadr-F missile can hit targets some 2,000 kilometers away.

On Tuesday, Iran fired another ballistic missile called Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country.

Jaberi-Ansari said none of Iran’s missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads and thus, their production and test “are not in contravention of Resolution 2231 and its appendices.”

The resolution, adopted by the Security Council on July 20, 2015, bars Iran from developing missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not compromise over its security and defensive power," said Jaberi-Ansari.

Iran, he said, "will continue its completely defensive and legitimate missile program with the framework of its legitimate defense requirements."

Tehran will observe "its international commitments without entering into the fields of either nuclear warheads or designing missiles capable of carrying such warheads," he added.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday the missile launch did not constitute a breach of the JCPOA.

Iran has repeatedly assured other countries that its military might poses no threat to other states, insisting that its defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence. 

Zarif-Kerry conversation untrue

Also on Thursday, an informed source at Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry had phoned Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to discuss the tests. 

A US State Department spokesman claimed on Wednesday that the two sides had discussed the issue earlier in the day.

The Iranian source said Kerry had sent an email to Zarif a week ago, asking for a phone conversation, but the minister has not responded yet because of his current busy tour of six Southeastern Asian and Pacific nations.

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