MR. BRIAN HOOK: I'd like to thank the Hudson Institute
for hosting me today, and I want to especially thank Rebecca
for extending this invitation.
As many of you know, Rebecca is a thought leader
on nonproliferation and national security issues.
I've had the opportunity to work with her and with the Hudson
Institute over many years.
And so it's a real honor for me to be
invited to give a speech on Iran's missile program.
When the president first directed his administration
to address the Iran deal serious flaws in October 2017,
he identified three key deficiencies,
the sunset clauses, the inspections regime, and quote,
near total silence on Iran's missile program.
This last issue, Iran's missile program,
is what I want to discuss with you today.
Iran has the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle
East with more than 10 ballistic missile
systems in its inventory or in development.
Its ballistic missile program remains
among the most significant challenges
to broader nonproliferation efforts in the region,
and its an enduring threat to our allies and partners,
including Israel.
As Secretary Pompeo said in his speech
announcing our new Iran strategy in May,
Iran must end its proliferation of ballistic missiles
and halt further launching or development
of nuclear capable missile systems.
History tells us clearly that advancements
in ballistic missile systems often
go hand in hand with the development of nuclear weapons.
Since ballistic missiles are the most likely way
that Iran would deliver a nuclear warhead,
this administration has been firm on its position
that the nuclear issue has to be addressed together with Iran's
missile proliferation.
But the JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal,
separated these two issues.
It removed Iran's missile development from the equation
and focused on restraining one facet of proliferation
at the expense of another.
This was among the deal's key shortcomings
and one of the reasons why the president decided
to end our participation in it.
The deal failed to protect the American people in part
because it failed to address Iran's
dangerous spread of missiles across the Middle East.
However, this was not always the case.
Prior to the Iran deal, the international community
agreed that the best way to constrain Iran's nuclear threat
was to also address its long range ballistic missile
capabilities.
This is why the UN Security Council took action in 2010,
to target the development of Iran's ballistic missiles.
Security Council Resolution 1929 prohibits Iran under Chapter 7
from quote, undertaking any activity related
to ballistic missiles, capable of delivering nuclear weapons,
including launches, using ballistic missile technology.
Even with this prohibition, Iran proceeded
to conduct multiple ballistic missile launches
from 2010 to 2016 in clear violation of international law.
But the message sent by the international community
was nonetheless clear.
Iran cannot be allowed to advance its nuclear program
at the same time that it is developing ballistic missile
capabilities.
The Iran deal undermined this international consensus.
The deal itself failed to include
any language constraining Iran's ballistic missile program It
gave the regime sanctions relief while allowing
it to continue and develop and refine its arsenal.
Worse yet, the international community
backpedaled on the consensus that Iran's missiles and nukes
should go hand in hand.
UN Security Council Resolution 2231,
which formally endorsed the Iran deal
and superseded resolution 1929, contained diluted language
that came as welcome news to the Iranians.
They lobbied hard for it.
As the resolution now states, Iran
has simply called upon not to undertake any activity related
to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering
nuclear weapons.
Let me translate this.
The international community kindly
calls upon the Islamic Republic, the world's leading state
sponsor of terror, to please refrain from bad behavior.
But if kind words and good faith worked with the Iranian regime,
we would have settled this issue long ago.
The new language is hardly a clear and enforceable
prohibition.
And the Iranians have exploited this ambiguity ever since.
Take for example in July 2017 when Iran tested a Simorgh
space launch vehicle.
The U.S., France, Germany, and the UK
all assessed that the launch violated Resolution 2231,
because space launch vehicles use
similar technology as intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
When we took our concerns to the UN,
the Russians were more than happy to point out
that resolution 2231, quote, contained only a call, which
by all means was not a prohibition
to refrain from activities related to ballistic missiles
capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The reality that UN member states ignore at their peril
is that Iran has continued to develop and test
ballistic missiles.
In fact, and let me be clear about this,
the Iran's pace of missiles did not
diminish after the Iran deal was implemented in January of 2016.
Iran has conducted multiple ballistic missile launches
since that time.
We assessed that in January 2017,
Iran launched a medium range missile believed
to be the [INAUDIBLE].
This missile is designed to carry a payload greater
than 500 kilograms and could be used to carry nuclear warheads.
It's suspected range also approaches 2,000 kilometers,
which is far enough to target some European capitals.
The Islamic Republic maintains the largest
underground facility program in the Middle East.
It is underground to protect and conceal
many aspects of its missile program.
In 2016, Iran unveiled two new short range ballistic missiles,
which it claims are capable of striking targets between 500
and 700 kilometers.
Iran also claims it is pursuing long range, precision guided
missiles, cruise missiles, which will present an increased
threat to our allies in the region.
Iran is also in the business of supplying missiles
to its proxies in the Middle East.
As I'm sure you have seen, recent media reports
have suggested that Iran is transferring ballistic missiles
to Shia militias in Iraq.
These claims are all the more serious
when you take into account the life threatening
and provocative attacks on U.S. facilities recently
in Baghdad and Basra, which Iran did nothing to stop.
As the president has said, the United States
will hold the regime in Tehran accountable for any attack that
results in injury to our personnel or damage
to United States government facilities.
America will respond swiftly and decisively
in defense of American lives.
In Lebanon, we have evidence Iran is helping Hezbollah build
missile production facilities.
There is also mounting evidence that Iran
is providing ballistic missile technology
to the Houthis in Yemen.
Analysis of debris recovered from a November 2017 strike
close to the International Airport in Riyadh
indicates that the missile was of Iranian origin.
A company logo with the letters SBI,
which matches that of the Iranian company Shahid Bugari
Industries is written on the missile.
As UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said in response to the attack,
"Imagine if this missile had been launched
at Dulles Airport or JFK or the airports
in Paris, London, or Berlin."
This is the kind of activity that Iran is supporting,
and it is continuing to support every day.
So what is the United States and its allies doing to address it?
For starters, we ended the practice
of simply admiring the problem.
Secretary Pompeo launched a multi-pronged pressure campaign
that reflects the president's goal of protecting
the American people and our allies from this outlaw regime.
First, we are using the full scope of our sanction's
authorities to inflict real costs on Iran's
ballistic missile program.
In March 2017 and April 2018, the U.S.
imposed sanctions against a total of 19 foreign entities
for transferring equipment to Iran's missile program.
In July 2017, we designated 18 entities and individuals
under Executive Order 13382 for supporting
Iran's ballistic missile program or otherwise facilitating
the regime's military procurement.
In January of 2018, we designated
for additional entities in connection
with Iran's ballistic missile program
under the same executive order.
In May of 2018, we designated five Iranian individuals
for providing ballistic missile related technical expertise
to the Houthis.
The individuals were also responsible
for transferring weapons to Yemen on behalf
of the IRGC's Quds force.
While we are sanctioning Iran's missile activity,
our economic pressure is much broader.
The U.S. is re-imposing sanctions
that were lifted or waived as part of the nuclear deal.
The first of these went into effect on August 7th,
and the remainder will be imposed on November 5th.
We intend to get global Iranian oil imports as close
to zero as possible by November 4th
to deny the regime revenue to fund its foreign adventurism.
As part of our campaign to stop the Iranian regime's
funding of terrorism, we also jointly disrupted with the UAE
a currency exchange network that was transferring millions
of dollars to the Quds force.
Regime leaders should feel the painful consequences
for their violence, bad decision making, and corruption.
Our aggressive re-imposition of sanctions
is aimed at forcing Iran to choose whether it should
cease its destabilizing activities
or face growing economic pressure
and diplomatic isolation.
Second, we are working multilaterally
to constrain Iran's missile program
and bring allies and partners on board our campaign.
We are coordinating with allies to interdict missile
related transfers and target Iranian missile proliferation
activities in third countries.
We understand the need to strengthen deterrence
in the region, to dissuade Iran from spreading its missile
threat.
We also participate in the missile technology control
regime, and the Hague code of conduct
against ballistic missile proliferation
to target Iran's missile development programs.
Show checkpoint technologies and procurement strategies
and depressed countries to take steps
to impede Iran's acquisition of missile technology.
Many other nations already have common understandings
of the threat that Iran poses beyond its nuclear aspirations.
And I think this is clear in our negotiations with allies
before the president decided to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
We want more nations to join us in confronting the array
of Iran's malign activity.
We are asking every nation that can no longer tolerate
Iran's destructive behavior to protect
its people by joining us.
Finally, while not directly related to the missile issue,
another critical component of our pressure campaign
is Secretary Pompeo's commitment to exposing
the regime's brutality and standing
with the Iranian people.
The Iranian people themselves deserve
to know the high level of self-interest that
fuels the regime's actions, and we
continue to say that the longest suffering
victims of the Iranian regime are the Iranian people.
We will continue to expose the regime's corrupt monopolies,
malign activities, crooked self dealings,
and outright oppression.
As the Secretary did during his trip to the Reagan Library,
he will continue to engage with the Iranian diaspora.
Secretary Pompeo's goal is a comprehensive deal with Iran
that addresses the full scope of its destabilizing behavior.
We ask the Islamic Republic to behave like a normal country,
so that it can enjoy the privileges of a normal country.
With regard to missiles, this means returning to the pre Iran
nuclear deal consensus.
Iran's nuclear proliferation and development
of ballistic missiles must be addressed together,
not separately.
Placing temporary limits on Iran's nuclear program,
while allowing the regime to develop and proliferate
ballistic missiles, is a failed policy that the world cannot
continue.
It is time for all nations to join us
in holding Iran to a new level of accountability
for its destructive behavior, especially its lawless pursuit
of ballistic missiles.
Thank you.