This illustrates Obama’s indifference to how stupid and irrelevant he appears to the world*
“The United States has confirmed that Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, in “clear violation” of a United Nations Security Council ban on ballistic missile tests, a senior US official said on Friday.
“The United States is deeply concerned about Iran’s recent ballistic missile launch,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement.”
Wow! Pretty tough words by Ms. Power!
So. How concerned is the United States?
WASHINGTON (Wall Street Journal)—Iranian actions, such as a ballistic missile testconducted last weekend, won’t derail the nuclear agreement with Tehran, President Barack Obama said Friday.
Iran has violated the test ban repeatedly, and the absence of a nuclear deal wouldn’t spur improved behavior, the president said. In a news conference at the White House, he vowed to continue to enforce sanctions on the ballistic missile program but stopped short of saying new sanctions would result from the test.
There! Is that tough enough for you? President Obama is taking the hard line toward Iran…is he not? This “clear violation” of a UN security ban won’t “derail” Obama’s agreement to give Iran the go-ahead to eventually (probably much sooner than later) produce nuclear weapons. But, by golly, the US “vows to continue to enforce sanctions”.
Don’t say you haven’t been warned, Iran.
Jerusalem Post Excerpts below — bold emphasis ours
“After reviewing the available information, we can confirm that Iran launched on Oct. 10 a medium-range ballistic missile inherently capable of delivering a nuclear weapon,” she said. “This was a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1929.”
The United States is preparing a report on the incident for the Security Council’s Iran Sanctions Committee and will raise the matter directly with Security Council members “in the coming days,” Power said.
Council diplomats have told Reuters it was possible to sanction additional Iranian individuals or entities by adding them to an existing UN blacklist. However, they noted that Russia and China, which have opposed the sanctions on Iran’s missile program, might block any such moves.
“The Security Council prohibition on Iran’s ballistic missile activities, as well as the arms embargo, remain in place,” Power said. “We will continue to press the Security Council for an appropriate response to Iran’s disregard for its international obligations.”
Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under Security Council resolution 1929, which was adopted in 2010 and remains valid until a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers goes into effect. Under that deal, reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Once the deal takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” to refrain from undertaking any work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July.
Back to the WSJ article
While White House officials have said the violation wouldn’t affect the nuclear agreement, Mr. Obama is under pressure from some lawmakers to outline specifically how the U.S. will respond to the violation.
U.S. would review any violations of U.N. resolutions, as it has in the past, and would deal with them as the U.S. has always done.
The nuclear agreement solves one specific problem—making sure that Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon, Mr. Obama said.
That last quote is just rich. Rest easy America, rest easy.
DLH
- Graphics via Branco at Americans for Limited Government and I Hate the Media.com
