{"id":24037,"date":"2018-12-02T16:22:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T16:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=24037"},"modified":"2018-12-02T16:22:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T16:22:48","slug":"iran-says-missile-program-defensive-after-us-test-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=24037","title":{"rendered":"Iran says missile program defensive after US test allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nDUBAI: Iran said on Sunday it would continue missile tests to build up its defenses and denied this was in breach of UN resolutions following US allegations that Tehran had tested a new missile capable of carrying multiple warheads.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he called Iran\u2019s testing of a medium-range ballistic missile in violation of the 2015 international agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, from which Washington has withdrawn.
\u201cMissile tests…are carried out for defense and the country\u2019s deterrence, and we will continue this,\u201d Brig.- General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman for Iran\u2019s armed forces, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
\u201cWe will continue to both develop and test missiles. This is outside the framework of (nuclear) negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will not ask any country\u2019s permission,\u201d Shekarchi said.
He did not confirm or deny Iran had tested a new missile.
Earlier, US National Security Adviser John Bolton tweeted: \u201cIran just test-fired an INF-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Iran just test-fired an INF range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated. https:\/\/t.co\/EcPQ6MMjv7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 1, 2018<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi also said Iranian missiles were purely defensive and added, \u201cThere is no Security Council resolution prohibiting missile program and missile tests by Iran.\u201d
\n
\nUN Resolution 2231 enshrined Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in which Tehran curbed its disputed uranium enrichment program in exchange for an end to international sanctions.
\n
\nThe resolution says Iran is \u201ccalled upon\u201d to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.
\n
\nIran has repeatedly said its missile program is purely defensive and denied its missiles are capable of being tipped with nuclear warheads, or that it has any intent of developing nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment.
\n
\nQasemi, addressing Pompeo, said: \u201cIt is…ironic that you cite a resolution that you have not only breached through your unilateral and unlawful withdrawal form the (nuclear) accord but that you also encourage others to breach or even threaten to punish and sanction them if they carry it (accord) out.\u201d
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\nPresident Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal, approved before he took office, in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Trump said the deal was flawed as it did not include curbs on Iran\u2019s development of ballistic missiles or its support for armed proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
\n
\nBritish Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter that he was deeply concerned by \u201cIran\u2019s test-firing of a medium range ballistic missile. Provocative, threatening and inconsistent with UNSCR 2231.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cOur support for (the Iran nuclear accord) in no way lessens our concern at Iran\u2019s destabilising missile program and determination that it should cease,\u201d Hunt added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DUBAI: Iran said on Sunday it would continue missile tests to build up its defenses and denied this was in breach of UN resolutions following US allegations that Tehran had tested a new missile capable of carrying multiple warheads.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he called Iran\u2019s testing of a medium-range…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}