Hidden in the fine print with the UN Security Council lifted the sanctions on Iran’s nuclear weapons program on Monday was a sweetener for Iran. The embargo on selling Iran ballistic missiles and ballistic missile technology was lifted. This means that as Iran continues to develop a nuclear weapon with American and European assistance, it will have open access to buy and develop a ballistic missile to deliver that weapon.

The story breaks like this. BBC’s Farsi news monitoring service, apparently something out State Department can’t be bothered to fund as it is too busy trying to fund abortions, reported:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Iran has secured its right to deny access to its sites for nuclear inspection and to ballistic missiles as part of a deal concluded with six world powers on 14 July.

“The next redline was refusal to allow inspection or refusal to accept any restrictions in the defence and missile spheres, which has been fully achieved through the deal. This is even stipulated in a UNSC resolution in an acceptable form, and this has been reported to the Supreme Leader’s [Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i] office,” Zarif said in an open Majlis session to brief MPs on the content of the nuclear deal on 21 July. The session was aired live by state-run Radio Farhang.

“Through severe resistance of the [Iranian] negotiating team, the opposite party fully abandoned its previous request of the inspection and verification of the missile programme and tests,” he added.

Zarif said that restriction on Iran’s missile programme has been removed from Chapter 7 of UN Resolution 1929 and “has turned into a non-binding restriction”. He said that all the inspections that the opposite party had been insisting upon a day before concluding the deal have been dropped.

Unlike Obama and Kerry who deal with these kinds of negotiations in secrecy, somehow the Iranian foreign minister is able to tell his legislature in open session and in the media what his country agreed to and to give the reference. So, let’s check it out.

The former UN Security Council resolution, Resolution 1929, says:

1. Ban on Iranian certain nuclear and missile investment abroad. Iran is prohibited from investing in sensitive nuclear activities abroad, like uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, where it could acquire nuclear technology and know-how, as well as activities involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.  The ban also applies to investment in uranium mining.

…

3. Ban on ballistic missile activities.  Iran is prohibited from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons and States are required to take all necessary measure to prevent the transfer of related technology or technical assistance.

What does the new resolution, Resolution 2231, say? First it terminates Resolution 1929:

a) The provisions of resolutions 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008), 1835 (2008), 1929 (2010) and 2224 (2015) shall be terminated;

It also requires the UN to terminate ballistic missile sanctions:

20. The European Union will:

20.1. Terminate the provisions of Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 and suspend the corresponding provisions of Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP specified in Sections 1.1.4, 1.3.2 (in so far as it concerns Articles 15 and 18 of Council Decision and Articles 36 and 37 of Council Regulation); 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 (in so far as it concerns Ballistic Missiles restrictions); 1.6.1-1.9.1 of Annex II.

and if transforms a hard embargo into a voluntary action, in other words it is as Foreign Minister Zarif describes it:

Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day or until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier.

Compare and contrast with what John Kerry said on Face the Nation

DICKERSON: We will have to move on there.

Secretary Kerry, you’re allowing as a part of this deal a terrorist nation to get both conventional arms and ballistic missiles. Why is that a good idea and why is that a part of this?

KERRY: Actually, we’re not.

There is a limit on their ability to do so. Under the arms embargo, arms control, there will be limit of five years, and under the missile, in eight years, and the reason that we’re only able to limit them to the five and eight, which is quite extraordinary that we got that, was that three of the nations negotiating thought they shouldn’t have any and were ready to hold out to do that.

And we said under no circumstances. We have to have those. And they add on to additional mechanisms that we have to hold them accountable on arms and missiles. We have the missile control technology regime. We have other missile restraints on them. We also have other U.N. resolutions that prevent them from moving arms to the Houthi, prevents them from moving arms to the Shia, prevents them from — to the Shia militia in Iraq, prevents them from moving arms to Hezbollah.

So, we have an ability way beyond, nothing to do with this agreement, to continue to enforce those issues.

The most charitable thing you can say about Kerry’s statement is that it is a contemptible lie. He knew when he said this that he ballistic missile embargo was ended because his UN ambassador submitted the Resolution 2231 the very next day. This is not an oversight. This is deliberate. It is a crying shame when the statements by our nation’s enemies are more truthful than those by our leadership.