United Nations - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Washington would seek to work with the 15-member body to re-impose ballistic missile restrictions on Iran. He urged the UN to tighten restrictions on Iran’s missiles, saying Tehran had hundreds of projectiles that could strike US allies.
Pompeo headed to New York for a Security Council meeting on Iran, which recently confirmed a medium-range ballistic test.
“We risk the security of our people if Iran continues stocking up on ballistic missiles,” Pompeo told the Security Council. “We risk escalation of conflict in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. And we convey to all other malign actors that they too can defy the Security Council with impunity if we do nothing,” he said.
He also said a UN arms embargo on Tehran should not be lifted in 2020 and called on the Security Council to establish “inspection and interdiction measures, in ports and on the high seas, to thwart Iran’s continuing efforts to circumvent arms restrictions.”
The UN said in a report that was discussed yesterday by the Security Council that more suspected Iranian-made weapons had been found in Yemen. The report, from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ office, said his staff examined two container launch units for anti-tank guided missiles recovered by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.