UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States and its Western allies clashed Thursday at the UN Security Council with Russia and Iran over Tehran’s uranium enrichment and alleged supply of combat drones in Moscow used to attack Ukraine.
The heated exchanges took place during the Council’s biannual meeting on the implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the United States under former President Donald Trump left in 2018.
At the start of the meeting, Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Britain, which holds the council’s presidency, of seeking to put on “an openly politicized spectacle” by inviting Ukraine to attend the meeting. while it is not part of the JCPOA. He requested a procedural vote on his participation.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood hit back, accusing Iran and Russia of participating in the transfer of drones used in Ukraine without prior Security Council approval, in violation of the 2015 resolution.
“It’s a matter of life and death for the Ukrainian people,” Wood said. “It would be unconscionable to deny Ukraine the opportunity to speak at this meeting when it is directly experiencing the devastating effects of Iran’s violation of resolution 2231.”
British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward, who chaired the council meeting, then called for a vote on Ukraine’s participation. Twelve members voted ‘yes’, while China and Russia voted ‘no’ and Mozambique abstained.
The United States, Britain, France and Ukraine have urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send investigators to Ukraine to examine debris from drones used in Russian attacks, insisting the fact that resolution 2231 gives him a mandate to open an investigation.
Russia insists he has no such authority and Nebenzia has warned the UN Secretariat against any such action. Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani added that any conclusion by the UN “based on such illegal activities is null and void”.
UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said in her briefing to the council that France, Germany, Ukraine, the UK and the US had written letters regarding alleged transfers of drones from Iran to Russia and provided photographs and their analyzes of the recovered drones.
“The Secretariat continues to review available information,” DiCarlo said, giving no indication of when or if a UN investigation would take place.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council that more than 1,000 drone launches over Ukraine had been recorded and that analysis by Ukrainian and international experts confirmed their Iranian origin.
Russian Nebenzia accused Ukraine and the West of fomenting disinformation and called the evidence comical.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom, which are parties to the JCPOA, said in a joint statement that Iran has also been violating its nuclear commitments under the 2015 deal for four years.
They pointed to International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran’s total stockpiles of enriched uranium are now 21 times the amount allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal – and the detection by the IAEA in January of particles of uranium enriched to 83.7%, which is almost weapons-grade. 90% levels. Any stockpile of uranium at this level could quickly be used to produce an atomic bomb if Iran so desires.
The 2015 nuclear deal limited Tehran’s stockpile of uranium to 300 kilograms (661 pounds) and enrichment to 3.67%, enough to power a nuclear power plant. But after the US withdrawal, Tehran stepped up its nuclear program and produced enriched uranium at 60% purity – a level for which non-proliferation experts already say Tehran has no civilian use.
Iran has informed the IAEA that “unintended fluctuations” in enrichment levels may have occurred, explaining the 83.7% enriched particles, and Iravani, the Iranian ambassador, and Russia’s Nebenzia both said the problem was solved.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom have said Iran “also continues to develop and improve ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons”, pointing to a May 25 test of a missile which, according to them, is capable of carrying a warhead at a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). ).
US Ambassador Wood said “Iran’s ballistic missile activity – particularly in light of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and threatening rhetoric – is an enduring threat to regional and international peace and security.” .
Iravani countered that “Iran is fully committed to vigorously pursuing its peaceful nuclear activities, including enrichment.”
Negotiations on the return of the United States to the agreement and the return of Iran to its commitments broke down last August. European Union Ambassador Olof Skoog told the council that the EU’s compromise text was still on the table “as a potential starting point for any new effort to get the JCPOA back on track”.
Iravani said, “We are always ready to resume negotiations if the other side is ready to do the same.”