TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has criticized the United States and Europe for their silence over a nuclear-capable missile test on Friday by Israel, saying the test was “aimed at Iran”.

“Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran,” Zarif tweeted on Friday.

The chief diplomat said this is while the three European states of France, Britain, and Germany (E3), which are a party to the 2015 nuclear deal, along with the U.S. have created an uproar over Iran’s conventional missile program.
 
“E3 and the U.S. never complain about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia—armed with missiles actually DESIGNED to be capable of carrying nukes—but has fits of apoplexy over our conventional and defensive ones,” Zarif pointed out.

His comments came as Brian Hook, who serves as U.S. special representative for Iran and senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced, “One of the deficiencies of the Iran nuclear deal is that it ended the prohibition on Iran’s ballistic missile testing.”  

In a tweet on November 30, Pompeo claimed that Iran had just test-fired a medium-range missile “that is capable of carrying multiple warheads.”

Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Friday that even Hook has acknowledged that the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 has not banned missile testing by Iran.  

“Brian Hook has given our E3 JCPOA partners a timely reminder, openly admitting that missile testing is not prohibited in the Security Council’s Resolution 2231,” Zarif wrote.

In an interview with ICANA published on Tuesday, Zarif said Pompeo needs to study the Resolution 2231.

In another tweet on Thursday, Zarif said that the three European states' letter to the UN chief on Iran's missiles is an attempt "to cover up their miserable incompetence" to implement the nuclear deal.

"Latest E3 letter to UNSG on missiles is a desperate falsehood to cover up their miserable incompetence in fulfilling a bare minimum of their own JCPOA obligations," Zarif added.

Zarif added, “If E3 want a modicum of global credibility, they can begin by exerting sovereignty rather than bowing to U.S. bullying,” Zarif said.

NA/PA