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Emad (Arabic: عماد, meaning "pillar") is an Iranian-designed, liquid-fuel, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with a claimed range of 1,700 km and 750 kg payload. The missile was presented by Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan on 11 October 2015. Emad features a newly designed reentry vehicle with a more advanced guidance and control system, making it the country's first IRBM that is precision-guided.
With an advanced guidance and control system in its nose cone, the missile's accuracy is reported to be around 500 meters. The missile, which appears to be another variant of the Shahab-3, will be delivered to the armed forces some time in 2016.
A team of U.N. sanctions monitors said in a confidential report seen by Reuters on Dec. 15 that a medium-range Emad rocket that Iran tested on Oct. 10 was a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
As a consequence of Iran's nuclear deal (JCPOA), on 20 July 2015, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 was endorsed, replacing the Resolution 1929. The new Resolution "called upon" Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons". It has been argued that the language is not a legal prohibition. The U.S. ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, said that the Emad missile was inherently capable of delivering a nuclear warhead which is therefore a violation. However, Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN disputed this interpretation - stating that: "a call is different from a ban, so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call". Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, responded by saying that since Iran does not possess nuclear weapons nor does it ever intends in having one, it does not design its missiles (Emad) to be capable of carrying something it does not have. Nevertheless, the testing of the Emad missile took place before the adoption of the Resolution 2231. The US, France, Britain, and Germany, asked the UN Security Council to investigate and take appropriate action.