The FINANCIAL — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to travel to New York on December 12 to participate in a UN Security Council meeting on Iran.
During the session, Pompeo will underscore Washington’s “unyielding resolve to address the Iranian regime’s threats to international peace and security through their continued development and proliferation of ballistic missiles,” the State Department said in a statement, according to RFE/RL.
The meeting comes after a senior Iranian military commander confirmed that Tehran recently carried out a ballistic-missile test that was condemned by Western powers.
“We are continuing our missile tests and this recent one was a significant test,” the Fars news agency quoted Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh as saying on December 11.
The UN Security Council met last week to discuss the December 1 test, which the United States said violated UN Resolution 2231, which was passed as part of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Britain and France described the test as “provocative” and “inconsistent” with the resolution.
Russia, which has veto power, has defended Iran’s right to carry out missile tests.
Resolution 2231 has called for Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon but does not specifically forbid Tehran from missile launches.
Tehran says its missile program is defensive and not aimed at building an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles.
