Iran announced Monday that it has tested another ballistic missile, which it claimed to have a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles)—enough to reach Israel and most of the Middle East.
Brig. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, said that the missile, which was tested two weeks ago, was accurate to within eight meters (26 feet). His remarks were first reported by the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Iran fired a ballistic missile in March that had the phrase “Israel must be wiped from the face of the earth” inscribed on it in Hebrew. That missile had a range of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles).
Iran’s continued ballistic missile tests are being carried out in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which codified last year’s nuclear deal and calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” The resolution also says that Iran must abide by previous Security Council resolutions, which placed restrictions on ballistic missile work until 2023.
An Iranian missile launch in October was officially found by the Security Council to be in violation of the resolutions, but the United States and the European Union have stopped short of classifying subsequent launches as violations.
Secretary of State John Kerry said at a press conference in April that the U.S. expects Iran “to make it clear to everybody that they are prepared to cease these kinds of activities that raise questions about credibility and questions about intention.” But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rebuffed Kerry a few days later, saying that Iran would not negotiate or compromise over its ballistic missile program.
[Photo: The Israel Project / Flickr ]