“We will not be the ones who start a war, but we will not be taken by surprise, so we put our facilities somewhere that our enemies cannot destroy them so that we could continue in a long war”, he said.
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Washington said on Tuesday that the latest missile tests do not constitute a violation of the nuclear deal reached with Iran previous year, following which global sanctions on Iran were lifted.
Such phrases have been emblazoned on Iranian missiles before, but this test comes shortly after the implementation of a nuclear deal with world powers, including the United States, and follows similar drills in recent days.
During his visit in Israel, Biden tried to assure those skeptical of the nuclear deal that if Iran violated the terms of the agreement, there would be consequences.
“The reason we have designed these missiles with such a range – 2,000 kilometres – is to be able to hit our remote enemies, the Zionist regime”, Tasnim news agency quoted Hajizadeh as saying, referring to Israel.
Iran has repeatedly said that its military might poses no threat to other countries, reiterating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.
Representative Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Iran is making a mockery of President Obama’s vow to confront Iran’s risky and illicit acts”.
The US Congress could, however push for more unilateral sanctions on Iran over the missile testing.
A White House spokesman said the possible test wasn’t a violation of the JCPOA because it “specifically focused on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and required Iran to curtail significant aspects of their nuclear program ” .
Rouhani’s popularity has soared since the nuclear deal in January, under which Tehran won relief from worldwide sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear research.
In January, Iran seized 10 US sailors in the Persian Gulf and held them for about 15 hours when their two riverine command boats headed from Kuwait to Bahrain ended up in Iranian territorial waters after the crews “misnavigated”, the USA military said.
“If Iran sees it can violate United Nations missile sanctions with no effect, it will violate this nuclear deal, too”, Royce said.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols that region, declined to comment on the test.
In a statement, Clinton said: “Iran should face sanctions for these activities and the worldwide community must demonstrate that Iran’s threats toward Israel will not be tolerated”.
“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.
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Tehran says its missile program is for defensive purposes.
