US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday called for extending the UN Conventional Arms Embargo on Iran, saying the Islamic Republic's recent launch of a military satellite proved its space programme was neither peaceful nor entirely civilian.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday announced that the country's first military satellite -- Noor -- was put into orbit. The launch comes amidst rising tensions with the US.
"This week's launch of a military satellite by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, makes clear what we have said all along: Iran's space program is neither peaceful nor entirely civilian," Pompeo said in a strongly-worded statement.
For years, Iran has claimed its space program is purely peaceful and civilian. The Trump administration has never believed this fiction, he said
In February 2020, Morteza Berari, the head of Iran's national space agency, said Iran advocates for the "peaceful use of outer space", Pompeo said.
"He (Berari) also said that "all our activities in the domain of outer space are transparent."
Iran's Minister for Information Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi claimed this week that "Iran's space program is peaceful."
"The most recent military launch, which was developed and conducted in secret, proves that these statements were lies," said the top American diplomat.
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Pompeo alleged that this satellite launch vehicle and others launched before it incorporate technologies identical to, and interchangeable with, ballistic missiles, including long-range systems such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
"No country has ever pursued an ICBM capability except for the purpose of delivering nuclear weapons," he said.
All peace-loving nations must reject Iran's development of ballistic-missile capable technologies and join together to constrain Iran's dangerous missile programmes, he said.
"As a start, nations should support extending the UN Conventional Arms Embargo on Iran, which is set to expire this October," Pompeo said.
The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitism should not be allowed to buy and sell conventional weapons, he said, calling on the European Union to sanction those individuals and entities working on Iran's missile programmes.
When the Iranian people are suffering and dying from the coronavirus pandemic, it is regrettable to see the regime waste its resources and efforts on provocative military pursuits that do nothing to help the Iranian people, he said.
In an interview with The Ben Shapiro Show on Friday, Pompeo alleged that Iran is the largest force for instability in the Middle East.
"There are many challenges there, but it has been this country that has been the world's largest state sponsor of terror for many, many years," he said.
This was the reason why President Donald Trump began his term by tearing up the Iran nuclear deal.
"It was a disaster in many dimensions -- and we began to strip away the things that provided resources for the Iranian regime," he said.
Pompeo accused China being one of the countries that has continued to take oil from Iran, even in light of the "terror campaign" that they have engaged in.
"The Iranians even today are working alongside the Chinese on a disinformation campaign. Authoritarian regimes in times of crisis tend to work together," he said.
In another interview on Washington Watch, Pompeo said that this is a regime that, in spite of all the challenges that the world is facing today, continues to be the largest world sponsor of terrorism and the most anti-Semitic nation on the world stage.
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