Iran extends missile program

The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday ordered to proceed the country’s missile program “with high speed and seriously” and expand Iran’s missile capabilities, in response to the USA sanctions, official news agency IRNA reported. Senator Corker has been pressing the administration “to hold Iran accountable for its repeated illicit ballistic missile tests that violate existing U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions”. “For this goal, all the possibilities of the defense industry, as well as technical and human resources of the country will be used”, TASS cited Dehghan as saying.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that the USA was preparing fresh sanctions against companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates over alleged links to Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

Dehqan also said the October test was based on Iran’s own interests for enhancement of its deterrent power.

Such a step by the US Treasury Department could present a major barrier to the nuclear deal’s implementation, let alone its durability.

Tehran said it will not back down on munitions development.

On Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said Iran would “respond to any interventionist measure by the United States against its defence”, which has “no connection” to the nuclear deal.

Iran says the Security Council resolution, approved in July, would only ban missiles specifically created to carry a nuclear warhead, not those capable of it, so it would not affect its military program as Tehran does not pursues nuclear weapons.

Rouhani, whose government negotiated the agreement with the United States and five other world powers, warned of reprisals. Rouhani said in a recent letter to his defense minister, according to Reuters.

A series of Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal.

Although Iran’s ultimate authority, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, explicitly endorsed the nuclear accord in October, he warned that new sanctions, under any pretext, would constitute a violation.

“Much was achieved in 2015 through diplomacy – let’s learn from history and repeat successes, not past mistakes”.