Iran officially admitted to recently carrying out an illicit missile test.
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan officially confirmed that his country tested a missile “recently,” describing it as part of Iran’s defense programs.
“The recent test was in line with our programs and we don’t allow any foreign party to interfere in our defense affairs,” Dehqan told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday in reaction to the recent UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Iran’s missile test, Iran’s Fars news reported.
He claimed that the missile test “contradicts neither the nuclear deal nor Resolution 2231.”
UNSC resolution 2231, passed January 2015, explicitly prohibits Iran from launching testing and activity on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear warheads.
At the US’ request, the UNSC held an emergency session on Tuesday to address charges that Iran violated the UNSC resolution by conducting a missile test.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said afterward that the world should be “alarmed” at the Iranian test and that the Council must take action.
Haley called the medium-range ballistic missile test “absolutely unacceptable” and said Iran is “being naive” by thinking the US and others accept its contention that it has no intention of attacking any country and that its rapid military development is meant solely for defense purposes.
“I will tell the people across the world that is something we should be alarmed about,” she said. “The United States is not naive. We are not going to stand by. You will see us call them out as we said we would, and you’re also gonna see us act accordingly.”
‘Foreign Interference’
The test is said to have occurred on Sunday.
After the UNSC meeting, Iranian parliamentary, diplomatic, intelligence and military officials convened in a joint meeting in Tehran on Wednesday and condemned what they called “foreign interference in the country’s defense affairs,” stressing that Iran’s missile and defense programs are not negotiable, a statement Iran has made numerous times.
“During the meeting, it was concluded that the country’s defense and missile industries are not negotiable with anyone and they should advance with all power and capacity and the parliament should support it too,” a statement released after the joint meeting said. “It was also declared that no country is allowed to interfere in the country’s defense affairs.”
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif cautioned Washington to avoid escalating tensions over Tehran’s missile development program, saying that the nuclear deal does not in any way relate to Iran’s missile program.
“We hope that Iran’s defense programs which are out of the sphere of the Resolution 2231 and the nuclear deal will not become a pretext for political games,” Zarif said.
By: World Israel News Staff