UNITED NATIONS: Russia on Monday opposed slapping sanctions on Iran over recent ballistic missile tests that Moscow’s UN envoy said did not violate a UN resolution adopted after the landmark nuclear deal.

The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on the missile launches at the request of the United States, which along with Britain had pushed for a special report to decide on possible sanctions.

But the meeting concluded with no specific follow-up action other than further discussion on the test-launches within a designated Security Council committee on Iran.

“We did agree that it’s not a violation,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, welcoming “a very satisfactory outcome of the discussion”. Russia’s stance as a veto-wielding member of the council effectively ruled out the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran.

The council in July adopted a resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and called on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Tehran maintains that the latest missile tests, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2016