The Islamic Republic of Iran has once again violated international restrictions on its missile program, as it reportedly conducted a ballistic missile test that according to defense officials has ended with a “failed” re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. Iran is subject to UN Security Council resolution 2231, which prohibits tests of ballistic missile that are capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The international ban on Iran’s ballistic missile testing was prolonged by eight years, as part of the nuclear agreement, reached in July of 2015, that aimed at restricting the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic in return for the lifting of international sanctions that have crippled the Islamic Republic’s economy. Nevertheless, Iran has rejected the ban on its missile testing, emphasizing that Tehran would not adhere to any restrictions on its military programs that they claimed were for defensive purposes only.
Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page that Iran’s missile testing was a blatant violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231 and that he would ask US President Donald Trump, in their scheduled meeting next month, which is set for the 15th of February, to resume the crippling sanctions on Iran. That after the US mission to the United Nations called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss the Iranian violation.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, during which the two top diplomats discussed the nuclear agreement. As Ayrault arrived in the Islamic Republic last night, the French Foreign Minister vowed that his country would act as defender of Iran’s nuclear deal, stressing it was in the “common interest” of the international community that the 2015 accord was observed.