US interpretation of Iran’s arms obligations invalid: Author

Press TV has conducted an interview with Kaveh Afrasiabi, author and political scientist from Boston, to ask for his take on the US’s reaction to Iran’s legitimate missile program.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: While Iran is gearing up for the removal of the illegal sanctions against the country that have been there for decades, now we have new allegations from the United States. What do you think is all the hype about Iran’s missile test?

Afrasiabi: Well, if the Americans are trying to find some faults with the Iranian commitments to their obligations that’s a separate story, because just as Mr. Araghchi correctly stated Iran’s ballistic missiles are for legitimate conventional defense purposes. They’re not designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads and warhead payloads. Therefore the question of design is very crucial here since the annex to resolution 2231 of the UN Security Council specifically says that Iran is prevented for some eight years from conducting any test of missiles capable or designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And clearly that’s not the case; therefore, Iran is not in violation of the UN resolutions. And the US’s interpretation is based on a clear erroneous interpretation of those resolutions. And may I add that the previous resolution 1929 passed in 2010 was according to US Secretary of State John Kerry based on overstuffing the resolution by the US’s envoy to the United Nations by including all these arms embargos with respected tanks, helicopters, missiles and so forth. And that was clearly illegitimate.

Press TV: What measures can Iran take to counter such allegations and campaigns that Washington has been pursuing against its defensive capabilities?

Afrasiabi: Well, I think the US has to give it up, because Iran has legitimate conventional defense needs and concerns, and its missile system play a very vital role in the nation’s deterrence capability. And if the US wants to disarm Iran from that capability, it’s not going to go anywhere and only is going to backfire on the US and its partners who have labeled diplomatically so hard to bring about that landmark nuclear agreement, which is very specific on the nuclear issue, it does not relate on the non-nuclear or conventional arms etc, which is what the case of Iran’s ballistic missile are about. Therefore, it’s really a choice that the US has to make either to push this issue to the brink of a lot of setbacks for the recent gains in the negotiations or step back from these unreasonable demands and accept the fact that Iran has tested its ballistic missiles that are conventional in nature and will do so in the future.

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