Upon closer review of the new Iran nuclear deal reached between the U.S. and five other world powers, it appears as if President Obama lied when he said his administration had forced Iran to accept an eight-year delay in the lifting of sanctions on ballistic missile activities, according to Breitbart.
In a press conference last week, President Obama said he had insisted on and successfully convinced Iran to agree to an eight-year extension of the arms and ballistic missile sanctions.
"But what I said to our negotiators was, given that Iran has breached trust and the uncertainty of our allies in the region about Iran's activities, let's press for a longer extension of the arms embargo and the ballistic missile prohibitions. And we got that," Obama said, reported The Washington Post. "We got five years in which, under this new agreement, arms coming in and out of Iran are prohibited, and we got eight years for the respective ballistic missiles."
The old text from the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 from 2010 banned Iran from conducting activities involving ballistic missiles: "...Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology, and that States shall take all necessary measures to prevent the transfer of technology or technical assistance to Iran related to such activities..."
But as Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif braggingly pointed out to the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, the wording in the final agreement, Resolution 2231, is non-binding and merely asks that Iran hold off on its ballistic missile programs, rather than directly prohibit, as in the previous resolution.
The text is found not in the body of the resolution, but in an annex on page 99: "Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, until the date eight years," or perhaps sooner, if the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies "that all nuclear material in Iran remains in peaceful activities."
It's important to note the wording: Other paragraphs in the annex say that Iran "shall comply" with the provisions, but when it comes to the provision on Iranian ballistic missiles, the text only says that Iran is "called upon to comply."
Zarif was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency as telling lawmakers: "Using ballistic missiles doesn't violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); it is a violation of a paragraph in the annex of the (UN Security Council) Resolution (2231) which is non-binding."
"This paragraph speaks about missiles with nuclear warheads capability and since we don't design any of our missiles for carrying nuclear weapons, therefore, this paragraph is not related to us at all," he said.
In a statement issued after the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 2231 on Monday, Zarif expanded on his point.
"Iranian military capabilities, including ballistic missiles, are exclusively for legitimate defense," he said. "They have not been designed for WMD capability, and are thus outside the purview or competence of the Security Council resolution and its annexes."
The top international affairs advisor for Iran's supreme leader, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister, also said on Tuesday that Iran has no plans to stop manufacturing missiles.
"They (the westerners) have made some comments about defensive and missile issues, but Iran will not allow them to visit our military centers and interfere in decisions about the type of Iran's defensive weapons," Velayati said, according to Fars.
"Missiles like Shahab, Sejjil and the like, have never been used for carrying nuclear warheads, and therefore, are not subject to the paragraphs of the [JCPOA]," he added.
