U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, standing before military debris she said was of Iranian origin, claimed Washington now has “indisputable” evidence of Iran’s UN resolution-violating actions in the Middle East.
“The nuclear deal has done nothing to moderate the regime’s conduct in other areas. Aid from Iran’s revolutionary guard to dangerous militias and terror groups is increasing,” Haley said at a press conference at Joint Base Andrews, where reporters were invited to inspect the evidence on display. “Its ballistic missile and advanced weapons are turning up in war zones across the region. It’s hard to find a conflict or a terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it.”
Haley noted that the missile debris she offered as evidence of Iranian behavior was not an actual violation of the nuclear agreement, per se, but a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231, which, among other provisions, prohibits Iran from progressing its ballistic missile program in certain ways and bans Iran from weapons transfers.
“We have said everything doesn’t have to be tied to the nuclear deal, but it does have to be tied to the security council resolutions. This is a blatant violation of what they are not supposed to be doing,” Haley said. “Everybody has tip-toed around Iran in fear of them getting out of the nuclear deal, and they are allowing missiles like this to be fired over to innocent civilians.”
In addition to missile components on display were remnants of an Iranian-made anti-tank guided missile, an explosive boat and a so-called “kamikaze drone.”
The missile parts came from a weapon launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen into Saudi Arabia. The missile landed near the international airport in Riyadh. [source]
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