US: Iranian missile violations unrelated to nuclear deal

Despite “strong indications” that an Iranian missile test over the weekend violated a UN Security Council resolution, the issue is “altogether separate” from Tehran’s adherence to the Iran nuclear deal, the White House said on Tuesday.

“We got strong indications that those missile tests did violate UN Security Council resolutions that pertain to Iran’s ballistic missile activities,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in a press briefing Tuesday.

On Sunday, Iran said it had successfully tested a new domestically produced long-range missile, claiming the weapon was the first of its kind that could be guided all the way to targets.

Based on information gathered by the White House, the test appeared to violate UNSC Resolution 1929, a US official told news network CNN on Monday.

But on Tuesday, Earnest took pains to downplay any link between the test and the Iran nuclear deal.

The missile test, he said, was “unfortunately not new.

“We have seen Iran almost serially violate the international community’s concerns about their ballistic missile program,” he continued. “And the UN Security Council resolution actually gives the international community some tools to interdict some equipment and material that can be used to advance their ballistic missile program, and gives us the ability to work in concert with our partners around the world to engage a strategy to try to disrupt continued progress of their ballistic missile program.”

But, he continued, “this is altogether separate from the nuclear agreement that Iran reached with the rest of the world. In contrast to the repeated violations of the UN Security Council resolution that pertains to their ballistic missile activities, we’ve seen that Iran over the last couple of years has demonstrated a track record of abiding by the commitments that they’ve made in the context of the nuclear talks.”

“We’ll obviously raise this at the UNSC as we have done in previous launches,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Tuesday.

Iran’s defense ministry posted pictures of the launch of the missile, named Imad, on its website, but no details were given about its maximum range or other capabilities.

“This is Iran’s first long-range missile that can be guided and controlled until hitting the target,” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying.

Dehghan said mass production of missiles would be followed by supplies of the weapon to the Iranian military, the semi-official Press TV reported.

A United Nations Security Council resolution adopted a few days after the nuclear agreement bars Iran from developing missiles “designed to carry nuclear warheads.” The resolution, however, is not yet in effect.

“We don’t seek permission from anyone to strengthen our defense and missile capabilities,” Dehghan said.

Iran has said its missiles would never carry a nuclear warhead as it has no plans to develop atomic weapons, but military officials have insisted on expanding the country’s missile program.

The deal reached with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States aims to limit Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting international sanctions.

Since 1992, Iran has emphasized a self-sufficient and indigenous military production industry, producing missiles, tanks and light submarines. The government frequently announces military advances which cannot independently verified.

The Islamic Republic already claims to have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) that can hit Israel and US military bases in the region.

AP and AFP contributed to this report.