U.S. seeks U.N. response for Iranian missile launch

Samantha Powers, U.S. envoy to the United Nations, submitted a formal complaint to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday alleging that Tehran’s Oct. 10 test of a missile supposedly capable of traveling 900-1,100 miles and bearing a maneuverable warhead was a violation of a U.N. resolution specifically barring Iran from such launches.

The missile has a maneuverable warhead to improve accuracy and complicate anti-missile defenses.

“We firmly believe it is a violation [of the resolution] but that process needs to work its way through the United Nations,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. “I’m not going to prejudge the result of that process.”

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Powers told the U.N. on Wednesday: “Noting that this provocative launch was yet another clear violation of U.N. sanctions, I underscored that the United States considers it to be a serious matter and undermines regional stability.

“Given international concern about this violation, as with violations in the past, today France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom submitted a joint report on the launch to the Security Council’s Iran Sanctions Committee,” she stated. “We call on the committee … to review this matter quickly and recommend appropriate action.”

Despite the provocation, the Obama administration maintains that the test does not violate a broader agreement being implemented between Iran and six world powers to curb its nuclear ambitions.

“In contrast to the repeated violations of the U.N. Security Council resolution that pertains to their ballistic missile activities, we’ve seen that Iran over the last couple of years has demonstrated a track record of abiding by the commitments that they made in the context of the nuclear talks,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Oct. 13.