TEHRAN - Maria Sultan, a senior Pakistani security expert, has said the launch of military satellite by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is within the charter of the United Nations.

She told IRNA in an interview published on Sunday that the launch conforms to Article 51 of the UN charter which guarantees Iran’s right to self-defense.

The IRGC successfully launched Iran’s first military satellite into the orbit on Wednesday, April 22.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed the launch violated the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

“I think every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution,” Pompeo told reporters, according to the Guardian. 

In a statement on Thursday, France also claimed the launch was in contravention of Resolution 2231 and called on Tehran to immediately cease all activities related to the development of ballistic missiles designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Britain also claimed on Friday that Iran’s launch of the military satellite is inconsistent with a UN Security Council resolution.

Germany also said that Berlin's position on the Islamic Republic’s missile program has not changed, and the program has a destabilizing impact on the region.

In response, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that both the U.S. and Europe cannot lecture Iran based on misreading of the Resolution 2231 which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Zarif said the United States has violated Resolution 2231 and Europe has obeyed Washington instead of abiding by the resolution.

“US has been bullying all against UNSC Resolution 2231 since 2017. Europe obeyed US instead of 2231. Neither can lecture Iran based on flimsy misreadings of UNSCR 2231,” Zarif tweeted.

Zarif said, “Iran neither has nukes nor missiles ‘DESIGNED to be capable of carrying’ such horrific arms.”

Zarif also posted news headlines which say the U.S., France, Britain and the Zionist regime of Israel possess and develop nuclear weapons.

Also on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the position of France and Britain on the launch of the military satellite shows that Paris and London have given in to the United States’ bullying.

“The European countries’ lack of action against the United States while it violated the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2231 by quitting the JCPOA [the 2015 nuclear deal] shows their double standards and also giving in to the United States’ bullying,” Mousavi pointed out.

He strongly dismissed France and Britain’s biased interpretation of the Resolution 2231.

“Iran’s nuclear program is just for peaceful purposes based on fatwa issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] which has been approved by reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency. So, Iran’s space program is for defensive objectives and has not been designed for other purposes,” Mousavi explained.

NA/PA