NEW YORK (UN). June 28 (Interfax) - The inclusion in the UN secretary general's latest report on Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of unverified information is a malicious attempt to create a negative atmosphere around Tehran, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.
On Wednesday, UN Security Council members discussed the implementation of Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA. It was the UN Security Council's first meeting on the issue since the U.S. quit the deal on May 8.
"On the whole, the report [of the UN secretary general on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231] is plainly unbalanced and looks more like unsubstantiated accusations of Iran than an attempt to present an unbiased picture to describe the situation around the fulfillment of Resolution 2231," Nebenzya said at the Security Council meeting.
"Such an approach is all the more incomprehensible because none of the examples of Tehran's alleged violations of Resolution 2231 given in the document was confirmed due to a lack of information and the absence of any solid evidence," he said.
"It is unacceptable for the Secretariat to conduct any so-called investigations into possible breaches of Resolution 2231 without a clear mandate to do so from the Security Council," Nebenzya said.
"We continue to insist that such a report should not contain information from open sources or references to information provided by individual countries that is unverified and has not been verified intentionally. We see such practice as unacceptable and as a malicious attempt to take steps bypassing the [UN Security] Council to create a negative atmosphere around Iran," the Russian envoy said.
"Given the significance that the United States' unilateral actions carry in terms of implementing Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, we were deeply surprised by the fact that the current situation was mentioned only passingly in the report. It is absolutely inconceivable how it is possible to prepare a document titled 'On the Implementation of Resolution 2231' without mentioning the fact that the revival by Washington of unilateral sanctions is a direct violation not only of its commitments under the JCPOA, but of Resolution 2231 itself," Nebenzya said.
At the meeting, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo presented the latest report on Iran's adherence to the JCPOA. It refers to information received from two states claiming that "dual-purpose" items may have ended up in Iran.
According to the UN News Center, the report also includes Saudi Arabia's claim that ballistic missiles fired by the Yemeni Houthis could have been manufactured in Iran. Having analyzed the debris of these five missiles at the site, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts concluded that they share key design features with the Iranian Qiam-1 ballistic missile and that some parts could have been manufactured in Iran. The specialists believe that these components were produced at some point between 2002 and 2010.
Furthermore, the report contains information received from Israel regarding the possible presence of an Iranian drone in Syria, which was reportedly downed after entering Israeli airspace on February 10, 2018. IAEA experts did not have an opportunity to examine its debris, but images provided by the Israeli authorities show that its wing configuration appears similar to that of an Iranian drone unveiled in October 2016.
The UN secretary general called on Iran to treat seriously the concerns voiced by UN member states over actions believed to be at odds with the restrictions imposed by the relevant UN Security Council resolution.