Iran on Sunday dismissed US claims about its missile program, saying it is solely for defense purposes and does not violate any United Nations Security Council resolution.
“Iran’s missile program is defensive in nature and designed according to the country’s needs,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in remarks carried by the ministry’s website.
In a statement released on Twitter on Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he described as Iran’s testing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads as a violation of the international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Pompeo claimed that Iran is increasing its “testing and proliferation” of missiles and called on the Islamic Republic to “cease these activities”.
“This test violates UNSCR 2231,” he contended, citing the United Nations Security Council’s endorsement of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
In response, Qasemi said, “No Security Council resolution has prohibited Iran’s missile program or missile tests.”
He did not confirm or deny that Iran had carried out a new missile test.
Resolution 2231 calls on Iran to refrain for up to eight years from undertaking “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology”.
Tehran says its nuclear program does not have a military dimension and denies that its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Ironic Comments
Addressing the chief US diplomat, Qasemi said, “What is ironic and, of course, ridiculous is that you are citing a resolution that you have not only violated with your unilateral and illegal withdrawal from JCPOA but which you also encourage others to breach or even threaten to punish and impose sanctions on them if they implement it.”
US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear accord in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, criticizing the deal for not including curbs on Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and its support for certain regional groups. European powers have been scrambling to keep the deal alive.
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, tweeted on Saturday that Iran’s “provocative behavior” cannot be tolerated.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also said the same day that he is “deeply concerned by Iran’s test firing of a medium-range ballistic missile”.
“Provocative, threatening and inconsistent with UNSCR 2231. Our support for JCPOA in no way lessens our concern at Iran’s destabilizing missile program and determination that it should cease,” Hunt tweeted.
Missile Talks
Iranian authorities have ruled out negotiations with the West over the country’s military capabilities, particularly its missile program.
Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly said in his meetings with military officials that Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies.
Iran’s Navy on Saturday launched an advanced domestically manufactured destroyer that employs radar-evading stealth technology.
The Sahand destroyer, which took six years to build and is capable of traveling five months without resupply, joined the naval fleet at a base in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf.
