5 announced a new underground missile depot in which nuclear-capable Emad missiles are stored.
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Iran’s behavior, the letter said, including the ballistic missile tests, “poses a direct threat to American national security interests and those of our allies”. The missile launches have been a source of friction between Iran and its rivals.
“With that, Iran literally shipped out its capacity now to build a nuclear weapon”.
State television showed parliament speaker Ali Larijani and Revolutionary Guards officers inspecting the Imad missile, which has a range of 1,700 kilometres (1,020 miles) and is at the centre of a dispute over the missile programme. Under that deal reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
This is the second huge base – carved into a mountain – the country has revealed on TV over the past year.
Iran’s unveiling of the underground facility comes less than a week after the White House bailed out on an effort to impose sanctions on the Ayatollah’s regime.
Iran has responded with defiance.
Iran successfully test-fired the surface-to-surface missile, which has been completely designed and manufactured by experts of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Defense, on October 11.
Reportedly, Iran has the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic expands its missile program amid the concerns of the foreign countries and US sanctions threat.
The Emad missiles shown in the video appear to violate a 2010 UN Security Council resolution that banned Iran from developing nuclear-capable ballistic weapons, Reuters reports. The site’s location was not disclosed.
Last week, the administration notified Congress that it meant to impose sanctions on almost a dozen companies and individuals for providing support to Iran’s ballistic missile program.
In another development, Iran and Saudi Arabia have cut diplomatic relations and have been trading recriminations in recent days.
However, Iran’s Rouhani, seen as a pragmatist, has condemned the ransacking of diplomatic missions.
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Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told NPR that Shiite Iran likes to push its influence in the region, but is wary of out-and-out sectarian conflict with Sunni Muslim powers such as Saudi Arabia.
