The semi-official Fars news agency offered pictures it said were of the Qadr H missiles being firedin Iran’s eastern Alborz mountain range to hit a target 870 miles away off in the Sea of Oman.
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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. But since the deal was reached, hard-liners in the military have made several shows of strength.
Council diplomats say they will first await confirmation from national intelligence agencies about whether the missiles Iran has fired were nuclear-capable.
Iran state TV trumpeted Wednesday’s test as officials boasted that it demonstrated the country’s might against longtime nemesis Israel.
He stressed that Iran would not fire the missiles in anger or start a war with Israel.
“Firing of the missiles is an embodiment of the ready-to-operate status of Iran’s missile depots in every part of the country”, Jafari was quoted as saying by IRGC’s website.
“The IRGC has never accepted the U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iran’s missile work”.
Iran fired two more long-range ballistic missiles today as it continued military tests in defiance of U.S. sanctions and fresh warnings from Washington.
In particular, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said that Congress would continue to press for new sanctions against Iran until “the regime ends its violent, provocative behavior against the United States and its allies”.
Although Iran claims that the missiles tests did not violate the nuclear deal, US and French officials recently said that a missile test by Iran would violate U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 that asked the Islamic republic not to conduct “any activity” related to ballistic missiles, which can deliver nuclear weapons. Tuesday’s tests, meanwhile, involved short and medium-range missiles, one with a range of 2,000km.
While any missile of a certain size could in theory be used to carry a nuclear warhead, Iran says the Emad and other missiles are for use as a conventional deterrent.
Tehran has denied US accusations of acting “provocatively”, citing the long history of USA interventions in the Middle East and its own right to self-defence. “I’m just trying to get to a technical point here, which is that it’s not a violation of the Iran deal itself”.
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The United States said on Wednesday it was aware of and reviewing reports of an additional Iranian ballistic missile test and that the administration would determine an appropriate response.
