Iran Rejects European UNSC Letter on Missile Program

Iran on Thursday dismissed a European letter to the UN Security Council accusing Tehran of developing missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. In a letter circulated on Wednesday, the ambassadors to the Council from France, Germany and the UK called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres to tell the body that Iran’s missile program was inconsistent with a UN resolution underpinning the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran responded that it was determined to continue with its missile program, which was repeatedly described as defensive and having nothing to do with nuclear activity. “Iran is determined to resolutely continue its activities related to ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles,” Iranian UN envoy Majid Takhte Ravanchi said in a letter to Guterres. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the European intervention. “Latest E3 letter to UNSG on missiles is a desperate falsehood to cover up their miserable incompetence in fulfilling bare minimum of their own #JCPOA obligations,” Zarif tweeted, referring to the nuclear deal by its formal acronym. He urged Britain, France and Germany to stand firm in the face of “US bullying.”