UN Security Council divided over Iran sanctions violations in missile launches and seizure

The U.N. Security Council has refused to back a report by a panel of experts which unanimously concluded that Iran violated U.N. sanctions when it launched several ballistic missiles last July.

Australia’s U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, who chairs the committee monitoring sanctions on Iran, said Monday the council also refused to endorse the panel’s conclusion that Iran violated — or probably violated — sanctions by shipping weapons to Yemeni insurgents in January that were seized by the government.

Quinlan told the council that a number of council members backed the panel’s view that the launches violated sanctions and therefore all U.N. member states should redouble efforts to implement ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran. But Quinlan said “at this stage some committee members cannot share this view.”