U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday that Washington would establish a coalition to push back against Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East.
The ambassador argued it was “hard to find a conflict or terrorist group in the Middle East that doesn’t have Iran’s fingerprints all over it.”
Haley held a press conference at a Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling hangar where she presented “undeniable” evidence that Tehran is exporting arms in violation of U.N. sanctions.
She said the U.S. has decided to declassify “concrete evidence” gathered from “direct military attacks” on Washington’s partners in the region. The evidence included three intact Iranian weapon systems and debris from a fourth – pieces of a short-range ballistic missile allegedly fired from Yemen at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia.
According to Defense Department spokesperson Laura Seal, the four presented systems were a short-range ballistic missile, an antitank guided missile, an unmanned aerial vehicle and exploding boat technology.
“All four include parts made by [the] Iranian government-run defense industry, and all could have only come from Iran,” Seal said.
Haley said the U.S. would welcome examination of this material, noting that several countries were planning to send delegations to view it.
“U.S. stands ready to share what we know to further the cause of peace,” the ambassador said, adding that the evidence demonstrated Iran’s “pattern of behavior.”
.@USUN Ambassador Haley: #Iran is determined to undermine the international consensus against its conduct. We must speak with one voice in exposing the regime for what it is — a threat to the peace and security of the entire world. pic.twitter.com/a2twBtzYVI
— Department of State (@StateDept) December 14, 2017
“You will see us build a coalition to really push back against Iran,” the ambassador said commenting on the next steps Washington intends to take.
“Secretary [of Defense James] Marris and the Department of Defense, they have done an amazing job of pulling this together. They are working with their partners to also help us pull together the evidence. And then we are going to work diplomatically to make sure that we let the international community know there are violations, but then we are also going to go so far as to make sure we do something about it,” Haley said.
Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman at Iran’s mission to the United Nations, said the evidence presented by Haley was “fabricated,” and called the accusations baseless.
“This purportedly evidence, put on public display today, is as much fabricated as the one presented on some other occasions earlier,” he said, according to AFP.
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