Information about Tehran missile launches should be studied, appeals for punishing Iran so far improper - Kosachyov
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) - The appeals for punishing Iran after its ballistic missile test reports are so far improper, Federation Council International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said, adding that the information should be looked into.
"One should not 'make waves', as this is desired primarily by the opponents of the historic Iran deal, but should rather look into what we are actually dealing with. The UN document does not impose a direct ban on missile tests. There is no precise information either as to what delivery vehicle has actually been launched. Hence, the appeals for punishing Iran are so far inappropriate," Kosachyov told Interfax on Tuesday.
Media reports saying that Iran has tested an intermediate-range missile "is not an ordinary event which makes it a cause for a thorough expert analysis," he said.
"This subject will justly be discussed at the next meeting of the UN Security Council, which, as you know, adopted resolution 2231 in July 2015 to urge Iran to abstain from testing a certain category of ballistic missiles," Kosachyov said.
However, there are no grounds to draw any radical conclusions as to whether Tehran has clearly breached the resolution and to make threats against anyone, he said.
"Alas, plenty of alarmist threats have been made, which is definitely not what the situation requires," he said.
The Iran case is a multilateral mechanism, in the first turn, and conclusions should be drawn and decisions should be made within its framework, Kosachyov said.
"The attempts to pass sentence in the international community's stead are certainly not the way Russia is determined to go," Kosachyov said.
The Western media said that Iran tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday. At Israel's request, the United States initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday to address the issue.
