Pompeo asks U.N. to bar Iran from ballistic missile testing
Pompeo asks U.N. to bar Iran from ballistic missile testing
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ramped up the campaign against Iran another notch Wednesday by urging the U.N. Security Council to prohibit the Islamic republic from conducting ballistic missile tests.
In a speech to the Security Council, Pompeo trained his criticism on Iran’s ballistic missile activity, saying it had increased since the nuclear deal took force in 2016.
“Our goodwill gestures have been futile correctives to the Iranian regime’s reckless missile activity and all other destructive behaviors,” he said.
Pompeo specifically said the United States will work to impose prohibitions on Iran’s ballistic missile tests that were in effect before the nuclear deal — prohibitions that were largely ignored by Tehran.
“Iran has been on a testing spree and a proliferation spree, and this must come to an end,” he told reporters after the meeting adjourned.
[‘I will stand against you:’ The Trump-Iran crisis is literally unfolding through ‘Game of Thrones’ dialogue]
Pompeo’s high-profile appearance at the Security Council underscored the laser focus the administration has placed on painting Iran as the epitome of evil in the world. Almost every day in recent months, officials from the State Department and the Treasury Department have issued statements, imposed sanctions or designated Iranian individuals and entities for their bad behavior.
But while envoys from other nations expressed concern about Iran’s behavior in the region, the Security Council session also demonstrated the isolation of the United States after its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and the decision to reimpose sanctions. Diplomats from eight European Union countries reiterated their commitment to the agreement, their regret over the U.S. withdrawal and their determination to establish a financial vehicle that can be used to circumvent U.S. sanctions and trade with Iran.
Read more: Washington Post
Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights