“One cannot argue that Iranians are violating any kind of prohibition imposed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” Churkin said.

He  said that Russia hopes that the tensions between the new White House administration, Iran and China will not result in any serious international showdown.

“The current rhetoric appears to be an emotional response to reality,” Churkin added.

He said that with that, Churkin believes that some of the recent US rhetoric on Iran might have been influenced by emotions rather than rational policy-making.

“The UNSC resolution only calls on Iran not to conduct tests of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but does not impose any ban,” Churkin said.

He reiterated that it’s just a call, not a prohibition, and said, “Technically or legally you cannot argue that they are violating any kind of a prohibition.”

Following the test of a medium-range ballistic missile by Iran on January 29, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, decried it as “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed retaliatory measures.

Iran, meantime, reiterated that it had not breached any of its international obligations, stressing that “it will not allow foreigners to interfere in our defense affairs.”

Source: en.farsnews.com