Wednesday, March 9, 2016, New York, NY… The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations strongly condemns the latest round of ballistic missiles tested by Iran. For two consecutive days, the Iranians violated United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 by launching what is reported to be Qadr H and Qadr F missiles, which are long range and precision-guided missiles.
The test was not only conducted to assess the missiles, but to send a clear message to Israel. The IRGC’s Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh stated “The reason we designed our missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers is to be able to hit our enemy the Zionist regime from a safe distance.” The Iranians have made it abundantly clear that their target is Israel in two other obvious forms. An Iranian television station screened a broadcast of an underground tunnel with missile silos that was used for the launch, which featured a painted Israeli flag on the ground for people to walk over. In addition, the missiles were stamped with “Israel must be wiped out,” written in Hebrew and Arabic.
The Iranians have illustrated that international law will not prevent their efforts to further their nuclear weapons program. These launches came soon after the United Sates approved new sanctions in response to Iran’s previous ballistic missile test in October 2015, which violated United Nations Security Council resolution 1929. This most recent launch is in clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, which calls for Iran to not conduct any activity related to ballistic missiles that are capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
This news comes shortly after IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano, told reporters that the JCPOA limits inspectors from publicly reporting on potential violations by Iran. The most recent IAEA report that was released on February 26, 2016, is the first to be conducted since the implementation of the JCPOA and it fails to list inventories of nuclear material and equipment of key sites in addition to information about Iran’s stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and their centrifuges.
Without detailed reporting, the international community cannot be certain that Iran is upholding its commitments in accordance with the nuclear deal. It is imperative that the JCPOA ensure transparency.
We urge the Obama Administration and our allies to take swift action at the United Nations to hold Iran accountable for their unacceptable actions of missile testing. It should be clear to the Iranians that the international community will not tolerate these dangerous and illegal actions. The United States must take the lead by imposing new sanctions against those directly and indirectly involved and assuring that existing sanctions are strictly enforced.
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