IRAN CARRIED OUT A TEST LAUNCH OF A MEDIUM-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE ON SUNDAY WHICH EXPLODED AFTER 630 MILES, A US OFFICIAL SAID ON MONDAY.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the test launch was carried out from a site near Semnan, approximately 140 miles east of Tehran. The last time this type of missile was test launched was in July 2016.
Iran defense minister Brigadier Gen Hossein Dehqan said in September that such missiles would be produced by the country.
The Obama administration previously said that Iran’s ballistic missile tests had not violated the nuclear agreement, but President Donald Trump has said he will stop Tehran’s missile program.
Under the UN resolution approving the nuclear deal that was made in 2015, Iran is ‘called upon’ to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.
THE DEAL WAS BROKERED BY THE UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, CHINA, BRITAIN, GERMANY AND FRANCE.
This month, Iranian lawmakers approved plans to increase military spending, including expanding the long-range missile programme.
On Sunday, Trump spoke with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and the two ‘agreed on the importance of rigorously enforcing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and of addressing Iran’s destabilizing regional activities,’ the White House said in a statement.
Launching a ballistic missile could fall under ‘destabilizing regional activities’. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he planned to push Trump to renew sanctions against Iran during a visit to Washington next month.
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