Iran’s launch of a vehicle into space flouts a United Nations Security Council resolution against any testing related to ballistic missiles that can deliver nuclear weapons, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In defiance of the international community & UNSCR 2231, #Iran’s regime fired off a space launch vehicle today. The launch yet again shows that Iran is pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that threaten Europe and the Middle East.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 15, 2019
Such vehicles “incorporate technology that is virtually identical to that used in ballistic missiles, including in intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Pompeo had said on January 3.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 adopted in July 2015, he said, called upon the Iranian regime not to undertake such activities.
Pompeo recently urged the U.N. to take action against Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Launching the space vehicle once again demonstrates Iran’s defiance of that U.N. resolution, Pompeo said.
Iran also launched a medium-range missile in January 2017 believed to be capable of carrying a payload of more than 500 kilograms with a range over 2,000 kilometers, far enough to target many European capitals, the State Department said.
After Iran test-fired on December 1, 2018, a medium range missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force said Iran tests 40 to 50 ballistic missiles every year.
“The launch yet again shows that Iran is pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that threaten Europe and the Middle East,” Pompeo said January 15.
A version of this article was originally published on January 3.
