Israel Charges Iran in Violation of Missile Test Restrictions

Iran has been conducting ballistic-missile tests in contravention of a Security Council resolution, Israel charged on Thursday.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the Security Council that Iran carried out two unreported tests of missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads in January.

In a letter to the Security Council, Danon charged that the tests were part of a series of “Iranian breaches of this resolution this year, including the missiles it fired from Syria into Israel and the armed UAV it launched from Syria into Israeli airspace.”

He said that a version of the Shahab-3 medium-range missile was tested on January 2 in the region of Chabahar in southeast Iran. That was followed three days later with the launching of a Scud-type missile from a site about 68 miles northeast of the city of Kerman.

“Both the Shahab-3 and Scud missiles are Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) category one ballistic missiles, capable of delivering a nuclear payload of 500 kilograms for a range of over 300 kilometers,” Danon wrote. “Iran’s activities are therefore in violation of Article 3 of Annex B to Security Council Resolution 2231.”

Danon did not cite sources for the allegations, and neither he nor the Ministry of Defense have so far replied to requests for further details.

“Iran continues to ignore its obligations to the international community and further destabilize the Middle East, particularly in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip,” Danon concluded. “Its activities pose a direct threat to Israel and the entire region. The Security Council must remain vigilant in the face of Iranian aggression.”

Danon’s letter to the Security Council came just a day after The New York Times reported that weapons researchers have identified activity at a remote secret Iranian facility, indicating development of long-range missiles that could potentially threaten the United States.

Satellite images appear to show activity around a tunnel leading underground and evidence of powerful rocket engine tests near the city of Shahrud, the report said.