US slams Iranian missile test

The US confirmed that an Iranian ballistic missile test violated a UN Security Council resolution, which Tehran denied.

New York - The US confirmed on Friday that an Iranian ballistic missile test last week violated a UN Security Council resolution, which Tehran denied, and President Barack Obama threatened consequences.

“After reviewing the available information, we can confirm that Iran launched on October 10 a medium-range ballistic missile inherently capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. This was a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1929,” US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said.

The US was preparing to raise the issue with the Security Council and would press for “an appropriate response to Iran's disregard for its international obligations.”

Last week, Iran tested a new medium-range missile to replace its Shahab-3 model.

Iran, however, said the launch did not violate UN Security Council resolutions.

“None of the missiles are designed to carry nuclear warheads, so they therefore do not violate the UN resolution,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a report by Iranian news agency IRNA.

The UN measures explicitly allow Iran to take necessary steps to strengthen its military defences, he said.

On Thursday, Iran for the first time showed video footage of missiles hidden in underground tunnels.

The Emad (Assertiveness) surface-to-surface missile is said to be more precise than its predecessor, but details on weapons tests cannot normally be verified as they take place without independent observers.

The US noted that prohibitions of Iranian ballistic missile activities and an arms embargo remain in place, apart from a deal reached among Iran and world powers to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Obama called Iran's ballistic missile test the latest in a series of violations by Tehran regarding the use of missiles, and said the US will continue to pressure Iran on the matter despite the nuclear agreement.

Obama told a press conference that the nuclear deal solved a specific problem, but did not resolve all international concerns about Tehran's actions.

“We are going to have to continue to put pressure on them through the international community,” Obama said.

“There are costs to bad behaviour in the region and around the world.”

He defended the nuclear agreement, which has come under fire from opposition Republicans, saying such provocative actions would only be worse if Iran also had a nuclear weapon.

French diplomatic sources have criticised the tests, saying that a ballistic missile programme in Iran was a “clear violation” of a 2010 UN Security Council resolution adopting sanctions for lack of compliance with non-proliferation rules.

DPA

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