The United States will protest to the United Nations and consider unilateral actions against Iran if it determines that this week’s Iranian missile tests violated a UN Security Council resolution.
Advertisement
Ansari says the test-firing “did not defy the Security Council resolution”.
Coming just weeks after the implementation of Iran’s historic nuclear deal with world powers, this week’s multiple missile tests were described by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards as a show of force in the face of United States pressure.
“The 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range of our missiles is to confront the Zionist regime”, Hajizadeh said.
The US said on Tuesday that although Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests did not violate JCPOA, the issue could be the source of concern for the West and it might be raised at the UN Security Council.
“Iran’s missile programme will not stop under any circumstances”, Hajizadeh said.
“This demonstrates once again why we need to address Iran’s destabilizing activities across the region, while vigorously enforcing the nuclear deal”, she continued.
A tanker filled with Iranian oil pulled into a Spanish port this week and began off-loading the first shipment of Iranian oil since the lifting of the European Union’s embargo – a result of the nuclear deal negotiated last July that took effect in January.
The statement from the official comes as IRGC test-fired several ballistic missiles over the last two days, challenging a United Nations resolution and a nuclear deal, under which the country agreed to limit its nuclear program to get relief from economic sanctions.
In January 2016, Washington imposed sanctions against individuals and businesses over another missile test carried out by Iran in October previous year, but Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on state television this week that additional sanctions would mean further development of the missile program to them. The missiles dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F were fired on Wednesday during the large-scale drills, codenamed Eqtedar-e-Velayat.
Royce slammed the the administration for “tripping over technicalities”, and said not acting could show Iran it could violate the nuclear deal, too.
Biden spoke after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who forcefully opposed the nuclear accord with Iran.
Iranian officials say the missiles are for deterrence and not for carrying nuclear weapons. He also said Iran will remain committed to its worldwide obligations.
Advertisement
He stressed that Iran would not fire the missiles in anger or start a war with Israel. That phrase–that Israel must, should, or will be wiped out–has been used and said, many, many times by Iranian leaders, popularized by an ayatollah who died in the late 1980s.
