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Britain Provides UN with Evidence on Iran's Arms Violation

Iranian missiles and other weapons seized by HMS Montrose (UK Defense Ministry)
Iranian missiles and other weapons seized by HMS Montrose (UK Defense Ministry)
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Britain Provides UN with Evidence on Iran's Arms Violation

Iranian missiles and other weapons seized by HMS Montrose (UK Defense Ministry)
Iranian missiles and other weapons seized by HMS Montrose (UK Defense Ministry)

The British government on Tuesday said it presented evidence proving Iran has violated UN resolutions on the proliferation of weapons and linking the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the smuggling of weapon systems in violation of a UN Security Council Resolution.

In a statement, the British Defense Ministry said weapons seized by Royal Navy ship HMS Montrose, which have been presented to the UN as evidence, proved the IRGC is smuggling weapons in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

Early in 2022, HMS Montrose seized Iranian weapons from speedboats operated by smugglers in international waters south of Iran. The items included surface-to-air-missiles and engines for land attack cruise missiles, in contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions 2231 and 2140, approved in 2015.

“The weapons were presented to representatives of the United Nations who provide an assessment of the conflict in Yemen and Iranian nuclear activity,” the statement said.

In December 2022, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres referred to the seizure of Iranian arms in his UNSCR 2231 report. These interdictions are expected to also feature in the UNSCR 2140 annual report that will shortly be released.

“The UK is committed to upholding international law and will continue to counter Iranian activity that contravenes United Nations Security Council Resolutions and threatens peace across the world,” said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

“That is why we have a permanent Royal Navy deployment in the Gulf region, conducting vital maritime security operations and working in support of an enduring peace in Yemen,” he added.

For his part, British Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Tariq Ahmad said: “Once again, the Iranian regime has been exposed for its reckless proliferation of weapons and destabilizing activity in the region.”

The minister also mentioned Iran’s sustained military support to the Houthis and its continued violation of the arms embargo has stoked further conflict and undermined UN-led peace efforts.

“The UK will continue to act to protect the security of our partners and hold Iran to account,” Lord Ahmad said.

Meanwhile, a key piece of evidence presented by the UK was a commercial quadcopter drone designed for reconnaissance activities.

According to the British statement, “by decrypting the internal memory of the uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) controllers, the UK Ministry of Defense discovered the records of 22 test flights conducted at the IRGC Aerospace Force Headquarters and test facility in western Tehran.”

It said the UAV was in the same shipment as a number of Surface to Air Missiles and components for the Iranian Project 351 land attack cruise missile.

“This evidence indicated a direct link between the Iranian state and the smuggling of missile systems being used by the Houthis to attack the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” read the statement.

The Ministry added that the threat posed by long range weapons made in Iran is not limited to the Middle East.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, it said Iran has supplied attack drones to Russia in violation of UNSCR 2231.

“These attacks have killed civilians and damaged critical national infrastructure (such as power substations) far from the front lines of the conflict,” the Defense Ministry statement affirmed.

The statement comes in light of a heated debate within the British government regarding the classification of the Revolutionary Guards on the terrorist list.

The Times newspaper reported that the government “temporarily” halted a plan to classify Iran’s Guards on the terrorist list due to disagreements between the British Foreign Office and the Ministry of Home Security.

The Foreign Office had earlier blocked a plan that would have led to Iran’s IRGC proscribed as a terrorist organization, citing the need to keep communication channels with Tehran open as relations between the two countries continue on a downward spiral.

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China Has Expanded its Nuclear Force, Strengthened Ties to Russia, the Pentagon Says

An American flag is flown next to the Chinese national emblem outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
An American flag is flown next to the Chinese national emblem outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
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China Has Expanded its Nuclear Force, Strengthened Ties to Russia, the Pentagon Says

An American flag is flown next to the Chinese national emblem outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
An American flag is flown next to the Chinese national emblem outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

China is expanding its nuclear force, has increased military pressure against Taiwan and has strengthened its ties with Russia over the past year, according to a Pentagon report Wednesday that details actions accelerating key areas of conflict with the United States.

The report, however, also notes that the recent rash of corruption allegations within China's powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army, is hurting Beijing’s military growth and could slow its campaign to modernize.

The impact, said a senior defense official, is a bit of a mixed bag because while there has been progress in some programs, China has slid back in others.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the US assessment, warned that Beijing is working toward developing a more diverse and technologically sophisticated nuclear force. While the expected number of nuclear warheads has maintained consistent growth, China is broadening its targeting abilities, The AP reported.

Beijing is going to be able to go after more and different types of targets, do greater damage and have more options for multiple rounds of counterstrikes, the official said. The US is urging China to be more transparent about its nuclear program, while also warning that America will defend its allies and take appropriate steps in response.

According to the report, which provides the annual US assessment of China’s military power and is required by Congress, China had more than 600 operational nuclear warheads as of May, and the US expects it will have more than 1,000 by 2030.

The Biden administration has worked to maintain a balance with China, building up the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to be ready to counter Beijing while also encouraging increased communications between the two countries at the diplomatic and military levels.

That uptick in talks has coincided with a decrease in coercive and risky intercepts of US aircraft since late 2023, compared with the previous two years. China still, however, does what the US military considers “unsafe” flights near American and allied forces in the region.

The Pentagon’s national defense strategy is built around China being the greatest security challenge for the US, and the threat from Beijing influences how the US military is equipped and organized for the future.

The corruption within the PLA has resulted in at least 15 high-ranking officials being ousted in a major shakeup of China’s defense establishment.

“This wave of corruption touches every service in the PLA, and it may have shaken Beijing’s confidence," the report said.

In June, China announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, were expelled from the ruling Communist Party and accused of corruption. Last month, another senior official, Miao Hua, was suspended and put under investigation, according to China's Defense Ministry.

The US report points to a persistent increased military presence by China around Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. It said China's navy has been in the region more and that there have been increased crossings into the island's air defense identification zone and major military exercises in the area.

Just last week, a large deployment of Chinese navy and coast guard vessels in the waters around Taiwan triggered alarm as Taiwanese officials said it looked like China was simulating a blockade. Officials have said there were as many as 90 ships involved in what Taiwan described as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China.

Taiwan split from communist China in 1949 and has rejected Beijing’s demands that it accept unification. China says it will do so by force if necessary, and leaders have said they want to be ready to do so by 2027.

The United States is obligated under domestic law to help defend Taiwan and give it weapons and technology to deter invasion.

The island democracy has been the chief source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades and is widely seen as the most likely trigger for a potentially catastrophic US-China war.

More broadly, the report concluded that the PLA continued its drive to develop greater military capabilities but “made uneven progress toward its 2027” milestone for modernization.

One area of expansion, the report said, is with unmanned aerial systems, which officials said are “quickly approaching US standards.”

Regarding Russia, the report said China has supported Russia's war against Ukraine and sold Russia dual-use items that Moscow's military industry relies on. Dual use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.