Monday, March 14, 2016, New York, NY… The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today urged the United Nations Security Council to deal decisively with Iran’s testing of long range ballistic missiles, noting that yesterday U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the missile tests “are a violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and “remain part of sanctionable activities.”
Stephen M. Greenberg, Chair and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chair and CEO of the Presidents Conference issued the following statement:
“From the moment UN Security Council Resolution 2231 was adopted Iran has repeatedly stated that it is not obligated under Resolution 2231 to limit testing of its ballistic missiles. Iran’s drive to extend the range and improve the accuracy of its ballistic missiles pose a danger to U.S. security and a potential threat to American cities, as it does to our allies in the region.
As the UN Security Council takes up the issue of Iran’s latest escalation of its belligerent disregard for the limitations imposed on ballistic missile testing under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, we welcome the comments made yesterday by Secretary Kerry unambiguously calling the ballistic missile tests last week a violation of the resolution. It is now up to the U.S. and our allies to provide decisive leadership in the Security Council to assure enforcement of Resolution 2231 and to punish this latest in a series of blatant Iranian provocations.
If the Security Council does not move quickly to adopt punitive measures against Iran, the U.S. must act either by imposing unilateral sanctions under existing U.S. law and enacting additional sanctions legislation designed specifically to deter the Iranian long range ballistic missile threat.
Iran’s missile program is a clear threat to U.S. national security interests. It gives substance to the constant calls by Iran’s Supreme Leader of “death to America” and its threats against Israel and other countries in the Middle East.
We call on the administration and Congress to work together to craft new sanctions legislation to deal effectively with the ongoing Iranian refusal to curb this dangerous ballistic missile program and to comply with its international obligations.”
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