DHAKA: Britain, France, Germany and the United States have asked a UN sanctions committee to investigate Iran’s recent missile test, branding it a serious violation of UN resolutions.

US Ambassador Samantha Power last week said Washington had concluded that a medium-range ballistic missile launched on October 10 was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.

At a meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday, the US joined by the three European countries presented a report on the missile launch and said the sanctions committee should take ‘appropriate action’.

A resolution adopted in 2010 prohibits Tehran from conducting launches of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

In a formal letter to the committee, the four nations said, ‘The launch of this missile clearly constitutes activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and is a launch using ballistic missile technology’.

The four nations, ‘intend to cooperate fully with the committee and its panel of experts in their investigation of this violation’, the letter added, reports Al Jazeera.

The Security Council will need to vote unanimously for the committee to carry out any investigations.

Iran on Saturday denied that the missile launch was in violation of UN resolutions, with foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying that it was not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Iran insists it has no plans to develop atomic weapons.

BDST: 1306 HRS, OCT 22, 2015
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