Iranian rocket tests raise U.S. ire

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. Treasury Department was preparing sanctions against several individuals and companies in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates related to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran had earlier denied US accusations that it launched a provocative rocket test last week near Western warships in the Strait of Hormuz, dismissing the claim as “psychological warfare”.

“The dissemination of such false news, under the present circumstances, is more like a psychological warfare”, Sharif said.

Although the rockets were not fired towards any warship, their proximity to the foreign vessels, along with several commercial ships, was “highly provocative”, the official said.

President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the accelerated production of missiles in response to US plans to impose new sanctions.

In a letter to the defense minister published on the president’s website, Rouhani said Iran won’t accept any limitations on its missile program.

Before, a U.S. aircraft carrier came within about 1,500 yards of an Iranian rocket while operating in the Strait of Hormuz, a Pentagon official told CNN on December 30.

The USS Truman Carrier Strike Group, which consists of a carrier air wing, Navy cruiser and four Navy destroyers – was traveling alongside commercial vessels and a partner French Frigate, the Friendship Provenance.

Diplomats have held out hope that the deal over Iran’s disputed nuclear program could ease decades of mistrust and reduce tensions in the Middle East.

“U.S. Navy forces are committed to ensuring the safe and free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and throughout the region by maintaining a strong presence”, Stephens said.

“Firing weapons so close to passing coalition ships and commercial traffic within an internationally recognised maritime traffic lane is unsafe, unprofessional, and inconsistent with worldwide maritime law”, said Commander Kevin Stephens, a US Navy spokesman.

In October, Iran announced the tests of long-range Emad missile which could be guided and controlled until hitting the target with high precision.

The semiofficial Tabnak news agency in Iran quoted an unnamed official as saying that the rockets had been fired to warn the Truman away from “a forbidden zone” in the Persian Gulf in keeping with “normal procedure”. The development seems to indicate that the historic arrangement between the US and Iran appears to be on the right track.

Hamid Reza Taraghi, an analyst close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the rocket launch “a minor warning”. Iran has agreed to relinquish its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, among other things, per the negotiated deal.