NOURNEWS- The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, wrote on Wednesday 11 October 2023 in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and also the interim head of the Security Council: The present letter is in response to the letter dated 9 October 2023 written by the representatives of France, Germany, and Britain addressed to the President of the Security Council and the Secretary-General. In this letter, the aforementioned countries have once again made a desperate effort to build an unrelated and fabricated connection between paragraph 3 of annex B of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) and the Iranian-owned Courier satellite, which successfully launched and has been put the Noor-3 satellite into orbit on 27 September 2023.
The letter of the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations stated: “The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects the undocumented claims against itself in the letter and reaffirms that Iran has not carried out any activities contrary to Resolution 2231 (2015). The Islamic Republic of Iran considers such claims to be baseless, which is as unjustified as the arbitrary and misleading interpretations of Resolution 2231. Iran's position on such repeated claims and the inconsistency is described in numerous letters.
Iravani stated: The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated that its missile and space programs are outside the scope of competence of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) and its annexes. Instead of engaging in such an immoral act and at the same time making unfounded and politically motivated claims against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the governments of the authors of the aforementioned letter should fully and genuinely abide by all their legal obligations under that resolution, including by refraining from taking any action that implements Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), in particular any action that undermines Annex A of this resolution.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said: We warn against any political approach used by some developed countries against other countries’ space programs. With no doubt, they seek to misrepresent developing countries' use of space technology for peaceful purposes under absurd pretexts, such as concerns about nuclear proliferation. This hypocritical approach seriously endangers the exercise of countries' inherent right to access the space arena, as well as their freedom to explore and use space for peaceful purposes, including their free access to science, technologies, and space applications without any discrimination.
The Islamic Republic of Iran's top diplomat to the United Nations reiterated that the Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates its determination to continue its activities in the field of ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles, both within the framework of its inherent rights under international law and its essential actions for the maintenance of security as well as socio-economic interests.
Iravani continued: Considering the mandate specified in the President's memorandum on the duties of the Council under resolution 2231 (2015) (S/2016/44), the Secretary-General is expected to carry out his duties within the framework of the assigned mandate in his next report on the implementation of resolution 2231 (2015) and refrain from reporting on such irrelevant activities. In return, they will be asked to put the non-compliance of France, Germany, and Britain intheir reports under this resolution.
NOURNEWS