Sanctions monitor: Iran test rocket violated UN resolution

Iran violated a U.N. Security Council resolution with its October test of a ballistic missile that had a nuclear capability, sanctions monitors said.

The launch of a medium-range rocket called Emad was analyzed by the council’s panel of experts, and the panel published its findings in a confidential 10-page report, Reuters reported. The news agency reviewed the report on Tuesday.

The Security Council was expected to discuss the report on Tuesday, according to Reuters, and the findings could lead to expanded sanctions against Tehran. They also could lead to a call by congressional Republicans, who oppose the nuclear deal reached in July between Iran and six world powers, to impose additional U.S. sanctions on Iran. The agreement trades Iran sanctions relief for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Additional launches in 2012 and 2013 also violated the resolution’s ban, the report said, according to Reuters.

The resolution, which bans ballistic missile tests, was adopted in 2010 and will remain in effect until the July deal is implemented. The agreement bars Iran from developing missiles “designed to carry nuclear warheads.”

Also Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, at a meeting at its headquarters in Vienna closed its investigation into whether Iran sought to acquire nuclear weapons, according to the report.

AIPAC in a statement released on Tuesday decried the IAEA’s decision to close the investigation.

“The IAEA is closing this file even after discovering further suspicious evidence and experiencing additional Iranian obstinacy. The IAEA could have recommended delaying Implementation Day until Iran demonstrated substantial compliance with its obligation to explain its past illicit nuclear activities. This decision to whitewash the past represents an inauspicious beginning to the implementation process of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the formal name of the Iran nuclear deal, the AIPAC statement said.