The two Qadr H missiles fired from northern Iran yesterday hit targets in the south-east of the country, the agencies said.
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After the launches, the Iranian news agency Fars quoted the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as saying, “We will not be the ones who start a war, but we will not be taken by surprise”.
“Here’s the reality: if Iran sees it can violate United Nations missile sanctions with no effect, it will violate this nuclear deal too”, Royce said.
“If our interests are not met under the nuclear deal, there will be no reason for us to continue”, Araqchi said.
“It is unrealistic to expect Iran to give up on its missile capability – considered the country’s sole meaningful deterrence – when the USA continues arming Iran’s neighbors to the teeth”, Vaez added.
Washington said Tuesday’s missile tests would not violate the Iran nuclear deal itself, under which Tehran has won relief from economic sanctions.
Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on them, state media reported, a show of strength by the Islamic Republic as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel.
“Iran’s security is the security of regional countries and our efforts are in line with establishing security in the region”, he said, according to Press TV.
After similar tests on Tuesday, Washington warned it could raise the issue with the UN Security Council and take further action after USA sanctions were imposed in connection with Iran’s missile program in January.
President Hassan Rouhani, a cleric close to moderates, pursued the nuclear deal in a bid to end Iran’s worldwide isolation.
United Nations experts said the launch used ballistic missile technology banned by the Security Council.
This followed the test-firing of a precision-guided long-range missile last October, which sparked outrage among officials in the United States.
The U.S implemented sanctions against 11 people and companies involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program on January 17.
Israel’s foreign ministry “strongly condemned” the tests in a statement released Wednesday. “These latest missiles were reportedly created to strike our ally Israel, and stamped with the words ‘Israel should be wiped from the pages of history, ‘” he added.
“President Obama must lead and aggressively enforce all sanctions against Iran’s missile programs, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses”.
“Iran should face sanctions for these activities and the worldwide community must demonstrate that Iran’s threats toward Israel will not be tolerated”, she said.
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Tehran has repeatedly stressed that its missile program is purely defensive in nature, and that it poses no threat to other countries in the region.
