Treasury Dept Plans New Iran Sanctions Following Ballistic Missile Tests

Reported US plans for new sanctions on global companies and individuals over Tehran’s ballistic missile program are arbitrary and illegal, Iran said on Thursday.

“The naval forces of the Guards have not had any exercises in the Strait of Hormuz during the past week and the period claimed by the Americans for them to have launched missiles and rockets”, the Revolutionary Guards website quoted Ramezan Sharif, the Guard’s spokesman, as saying.

Both the US and Iran insist the missile program is not part of a landmark agreement Tehran reached with world powers in July that is to lift worldwide sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program. Tehran said it will not back down on munitions development.

Iranian officials have said the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would view such penalties as violating the nuclear accord.

Iran has also defended its right to carry out missile tests for defensive purposes, saying none of his country’s missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The law affects 38 countries that have visa waiver arrangements with the United States and is framed as a measure to prevent Islamic State terrorists from entering the homeland. I fear that pressure from our “partners”-or threats from the Iranian government that it will walk away from the deal or threaten the U.S.in other ways-have caused the administration to rethink imposing sanctions for Iran’s violations of the testing ban”. The Gulf incident, which occurred last week, may have spurred the USA to finally impose the sanctions.

31, 2015 Iran’s president denounced the U.S. on Thurs. for suggesting the potential for new sanctions over Iranian missiles, & he ordered his Defense Ministry to reply by swiftly building more of them.

U.S.-backed regimes in the region, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, have large stockpiles of ballistic missiles.

The Iranian president also warned that in case the United States repeats such “wrong and interventionist” measures, the Iranian Defense Ministry must develop a new plan for expanding the country’s missile capabilities.

Once the July deal takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” not to undertake any ballistic missiles work created to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July right after the nuclear deal.

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

Should individuals and companies be added to “the previously unjustified sanctions list, it is necessary that the production of various missiles required by the armed forces move forward with increased speed and seriousness”, said his letter to Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan.