Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Paragraph: 19
A significant weakness of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 was its failure to prohibit Iran...
Conclusion
A significant weakness of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 was its failure to prohibit Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. In a treaty fundamentally designed to deliver non-proliferation assurances, it is entirely reasonable that the JCPOA should place a binding restriction on Iran from developing such missiles.
Paragraph Reference:
19
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
UNSCR 2231 was passed unanimously with the full support of the Security Council. feature of the agreement from a UK perspective, but UNSCR 2231 and the JCPoA, like all international agreements, is a finely balanced compromise and the product of extensive multi-year negotiations. We have serious concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and we urge Iran to cease developing its programme and fully abide by UNSCR 2231 which ‘calls on Iran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon’. In terms of wider, regional, proliferation concerns, the unanimous adoption of UNSCR 1540 prohibits all States, including Iran, from facilitating the acquisition of WMD and associated delivery systems by non-state actors. The resolution also requires all States to adopt and enforce appropriate laws to this effect. The UK has reiterated concern about Iran’s destabilising activity around the Middle East, including continued Iranian transfer of missiles to armed groups, in violation of UNSC resolutions 2216 and 1540. Such proliferation is destabilising for the region and escalates already high tensions; it must stop.