Iran vows to continue missile work, dismisses EU powers' UN letter

Tehran rejects pressure to shelve its missile programme following a European letter to UN Security Council

DUBAI: Iran on Thursday rejected pressure to shelve its ballistic missile programme after a European letter to the UN Security Council accused Tehran of developing missiles capable of being delivering nuclear bombs.

The British, German and French ambassadors to the UN Security Council, in a letter circulated on Wednesday, called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to inform the Council in his next report that Iran's missile programme was "inconsistent" with a UN resolution underpinning the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers.

Iran responded defiantly, saying it was determined to proceed with its disputed ballistic missile programme, which it has repeatedly described as defensive in purpose and nothing to do with its 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 had earlier on Thursday denounced the European powers' intervention.

Detailed, legal rebuttal of the E3 letter to the UN by Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative: pic.twitter.com/HWGerKDWhH

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 5, 2019

"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 not to bow to "US bullying".

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The European letter surfaced at a time of heightened friction between Iran and the West, with Tehran rolling back its commitments under the deal step by step in response to Washington's pullout from the pact last year and re-imposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic that has crippled its economy.

A 2015 UN resolution "called upon" Iran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles that could be capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

Some states - including Russia, which with four other world powers wields a veto on the Security Council - argue that the language does not make it obligatory. France said on Thursday that Iran's ballistic missile activities did not conform to the Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to respect all of its obligations under that resolution.

The Security Council is due to meet on December 20 to weight the state of compliance with the resolution underpinning the nuclear deal, and the European letter "will add to that discussion," said  a senior European diplomat.

Britain, France and Germany have sought to salvage the nuclear pact, under which Iran undertook to curtail its disputed uranium enrichment programme in return for relief from sanctions. But Tehran has criticised the three European powers for failing to shield Iran's economy from the US penalties.

The United States, Iran's arch foe, and its allies in the Middle East view Tehran's ballistic missile programme as a Middle East security threat.