UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo alerted members of the Security Council that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program was “at a crossroads” in light of US withdrawal.
This was the first meeting for the Security Council since US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that his country would withdraw from the agreement, which was signed by the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany) with Iran.
During the session on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on the implementation of sanctions against Iran, DiCarlo said since the agreement came into force on January 16, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency had consistently reported that Iran was abiding by its commitments.
She reiterated the secretary-general’s regret at the United States’ announcement, as well as his call upon Tehran to carefully consider the concerns of member states about activities allegedly contrary to the restrictions set out in the resolution.
DiCarlo said the secretariat had received information from two unidentified member states on the supply, sale, transfer or export to Iran of dual-use items that might be contrary to Security Council resolution 2231.
The UN official added that “the report reflects information from Saudi Arabia on the launch of two Iranian missiles in January 2018.”
She added: “The conclusions are consistent with those of the international organization regarding the firing of ballistic missiles by the Houthis in Yemen at Saudi territories.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, for her part, criticized Tehran ahead of the UN session.
Guterres’ report “includes troubling, but not surprising, evidence that Iran has and continues to violate UN Security Council resolutions,” said Haley in a statement.
“This report lays out the strongest evidence to date that the Iranian regime continues to send weapons across the Middle East and blatantly violates Security Council resolutions,” she stated.
“From the Houthis to ‘Hezbollah’, to Hamas and (Syrian regime leader Bashar) Assad, the Iranian regime has made a habit of devoting considerable resources, away from its domestic needs, to supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region,” she added.
She said the US would not allow “Iran’s violations and destructive actions to go unchecked”, urging Security Council members “to do the same”.
“The evidence in this latest report shows us all too clearly the consequences of inaction in the face of Iranian defiance,” she stressed.
Source » aawsat