UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Iran to address concerns raised about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and return to "full implementation" of its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
In a report to the Security Council obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, Guterres said that he had focused on restrictions on nuclear, ballistic missiles, and arms-related transfers to or from Iran in the report when assessing the implementation of the council's 2015 resolution endorsing the deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
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He said Israel provided information about the presence of four alleged Iranian Dehlavieh anti-tank guided missiles in Libya in June. Based on photographic evidence, he said one missile "had characteristics consistent with the Iranian-produced Dehlavieh" but that the UN Secretariat has been unable to determine if it had been transferred to Libya in violation of the resolution.
On Australia's June 2019 arms seizure, Guterres said analysis of high-definition images of some material determined that "the 7.62 mm ammunition in this seizure were not of Iranian manufacture."
The secretary-general said the UN had received information that an unnamed "entity" on the sanctions blacklist took actions "inconsistent" with its frozen assets and actions to ship "valves, electronics, and measuring equipment suitable for use in ground testing of liquid propellant ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles" to Iran. He said the UN Secretariat was looking for further information.
Guterres expressed regret that the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions against Tehran, and at Iran's 2019 decision to violate limits in the deal including on centrifuges and enriching uranium.
Guterres said in the report on the implementation of a council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear agreement that for the last five years, the nuclear deal "has been largely viewed by the international community as a testament to the efficacy of multilateralism, diplomacy, and dialogue, and a success in nuclear nonproliferation."
US President Donald Trump, however, has waged war on the nuclear agreement, denouncing it during the 2016 campaign as the worst deal ever negotiated and withdrawing it from it in 2018.
The Trump administration maintains the agreement is fatally flawed because certain restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity gradually expire and will allow the country to eventually develop atomic weapons. In August, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally notified the UN that it was invoking a provision of the 2015 deal to restore UN sanctions, citing significant Iranian violations and declaring: "The United States will never allow the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism to freely buy and sell planes, tanks, missiles and other kinds of conventional weapons ... (or) to have a nuclear weapon."
But the remaining parties to the JCPOA – Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, as well as the overwhelming majority of the Security Council, said the US move was illegal as Washington had withdrawn from the treaty, and the international agency did not demand countries reimpose UN sanctions on Iran.
Nonetheless, there has been growing concern among European parties and the US as Iran continues to violate limitations set by the deal. Iran has announced each violation of the deal in advance and said they could be reversed.
The deal promised Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Since the US withdrawal from the accord, Tehran has tried to use the violations to pressure the remaining parties to come up with new ways to offset the crippling sanctions imposed by Washington.
Recounting the US's actions and the Security Council's response in the report, Guterres stressed: "the importance of initiatives in support of trade and economic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially during the current economic and health challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the report on Dec. 22.
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