A draft United Nations resolution aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program would severely restrict the sale of heavy weapons to the Islamist government in Iran, but critics say a loophole in the document could allow Tehran to obtain a deadly weapon.
Ever since Moscow and Tehran cut a deal for the sale of S-300 surface-to-air system, Israel and the United States have worried about the deployment of the hi-tech weapon in Iran, where it could be used to guard its nuclear program from air strikes. Russia has so far held off from shipping the weapon to Iran, but concerns are mounting that the latest Security Council sanctions resolution under negotiation leaves open the possibility of Iran getting hold of the missile system that was originally to be delivered in March 2009.
A key element in the resolution introduced into the Security Council on Tuesday by U.S Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice calls upon countries to block sales and transfer of tanks, combat aircraft, warships and “missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register of Conventional arms.”
Fox News checked the U.N Register and discovered that the section pertaining to missiles “does not include ground-to-air missiles.” This means that Iran would be allowed to complete its purchase of Russia’s S-300. The truck-mounted S-300 ground-to-air system has a 90-mile range and can shoot down U.S. made cruise missiles and fighter jets.
According to former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, “once this system is deployed and operational in Iran it will effectively preclude an Israeli military option against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and that’s something that could affect the United States, too. If we at some point were threatened and we needed to attack Iranian air bases, those systems would be there to defend against us.”
The Russian Mission to the U.N. confirmed the resolution does not prohibit the sale of the S-300. A Western U.N. diplomat says that loopholes such as this one in the draft resolution was likely required to prevent a Russian or Chinese veto when the text comes up for a Security Council vote.
Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican running for the Senate, has circulated a letter calling on President Obama to close the S-300 loophole.
After many months of negotiations with Iran’s economic partners China and Russia, it is unlikely the loophole will be closed. U.N. experts are now working on an annex to the resolution that calls for asset freezes and travel restrictions of certain Iranians tied to the controversial nuclear program. A Security Council vote on the final draft of the resolution is expected in June.