TEHRAN - An unnamed official at the Iranian Foreign Ministry has recommended UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issue a realistic report on Tehran’s commitment to the nuclear deal, saying he should not yield to political strains put on him.

The remarks came in reaction to a confidential report Reuters claims to have seen in which Ban has said Iran’s ballistic missile launches “are not consistent with the constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Ban also had left it up to the UN Security Council to decide if Iran’s missile launches violated the resolution the Security Council adopted last year as part of the nuclear agreement. The council will reportedly discuss the report on July 18, the report says.

The unnamed resource said, “Since he (Ban Ki-Moon) and his colleagues have not participated in the (nuclear) negotiations, he is recommended not to offer interpretations not in compliance with the JCPOA in his biannual.”

Instead, the official called on the UN chief to present a “realistic and fair” report on Washington’s lack of commitment to JCPOA terms.

Under the UN resolution, Iran is “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years, Reuters said.

“I call upon Iran to refrain from conducting such ballistic missile launches since they have the potential to increase tensions in the region,” Ban wrote in his first bi-annual report to the 15-member Security Council on the implementation of remaining sanctions and restrictions.

“While it is for the Security Council to interpret its own resolutions, I am concerned that those ballistic missile launches are not consistent with the constructive spirit demonstrated by the signing of the (Iran nuclear deal),” he said.

Since the successful test-firing of two ballistic missiles by the IRGC in March, Iran has seen itself in another confrontation with the United States and its Western allies.

They claim that Iran’s missile tests are a breach of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the JCPOA.

The resolution does not ban the testing of conventional weapons by Iran.

Days after the missile tests, Secretary of State John Kerry had said in Bahrain that his country is ready to negotiate with Tehran about its missile capability.

Kerry’s words drew a barrage of fiery responses from senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“The test doesn’t violate the JCPOA or any of the Security Council Resolutions,” Zarif stated during an April appearance with European Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini in a joint press conference in Tehran.

Also, in the session Mogherini had said Iran’s missile tests did not flout the terms of the nuclear pact.

AK/PA