Iran Revolutionary Guards Unveil 'New Ballistic Missile'

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometres, their official news agency Sepah News reported.

The move was the latest show of military might by the country as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

The surface-to-surface missile—called Dezful—is an upgrade on the older Zolfaghar model that had a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said.

The new weapon was revealed after Iran on Saturday said it had successfully tested a new cruise missile named Hoveizeh with a range of 1,350 kilometers.

The unveiling ceremony Thursday was carried out by Revolutionary Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari and Hajizadeh at an "underground ballistic missile production facility", the report said.

The facility's location was not specified and pictures published by Sepah News showed only the two commanders in a room examining the missile.

"Displaying this missile production facility deep underground is an answer to Westerners ... who think they can stop us from reaching our goals through sanctions and threats," Jafari was reported as saying.

"Europeans talk of limiting our defensive capability while they have the audacity (to allow) their offensive power be used to attack innocent people all over the world," he added.

Hajizadeh said the new missile had a "destructive power" twice that of the Zolfaghar version, which Iran used for the first time in October to strike a jihadist base in Syria. 

Iran has voluntarily limited the range of its missiles to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), but that is still enough to hit its arch-enemy Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

Tehran reined in most of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers but has kept up development of its ballistic missile technology.

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear accord in May and reimposed sanctions on Iran, citing the missile program among its reasons. 

Iran and the other signatories have stuck by the 2015 agreement, although some European governments have demanded an addition to address Tehran's ballistic missile program and its intervention in regional conflicts.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231—adopted just after the nuclear deal—calls on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons".

Tehran insists that its missile development program is "purely defensive" and compliant with the resolution.

Photo Credit: IRNA

US Warns Iran Against Space Launch

The United States on Thursday warned Iran of consequences if it goes ahead with plans to send off three space launch vehicles, charging despite Tehran's denials that the move would violate a UN resolution.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran's satellite-delivery rockets used technology "virtually identical" to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, which could eventually include long-range missiles capable of reaching the United States.

"The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime's destructive policies place international stability and security at risk," Pompeo said in a statement.

"We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation," he said.

Pompeo said that an Iranian launch would defy UN Security Council Resolution 2231 of 2015, which endorsed an international accord on ending the clerical regime's nuclear program and called on Tehran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons."

US President Donald Trump last year walked out of the Iran deal, which was negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, instead reimposing sweeping sanctions aimed at crippling the country's economy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied Pompeo's charges, saying that neither space launches nor missile tests—which Iran says are vital for defense and not nuclear in nature—violated Resolution 2231.

"The US is in material breach of same, & as such it is in no position to lecture anyone on it," he tweeted, referring to the US rejection of the UN-endorsed denuclearization pact.

Iran's deputy defense minister, Brigadier General Ghasem Taghizadeh, said in November that Tehran would launch three satellites into space "in the coming months."

"These satellites have been built with native know-how and will be positioned in different altitudes," he said, as quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iran has seen economic potential in developing a satellite program, which could build a needed revenue source and also be used for espionage.

But US intelligence has said that the technology could easily be converted to long-range missiles.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Urges West to End 'Absurdities' on Missiles

Iran on Thursday urged the United States and its allies to stop their "absurd" accusations about Iranian missile tests, a day after Washington urged the UN to adopt punitive measures against Tehran. 

"US & allies should cease their hypocritical absurdities about Iran's missiles," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.

"Facts speak for themselves. It's they who sell USD 100s of billions in arms to butcher Yemenis," he added, referring to the devastating Saudi-led war backed by the West against Yemen rebels. 

Beneath the text, Zarif published a graphic detailing arms exports to Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2017 using figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The US accounted for 61 percent of those arms sales to Riyadh, Britain made up 23 percent of sales, and deals from France accounted for four percent, 
according to the chart.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to take punitive action against Iran to limit its ballistic missile program, which Washington says poses a threat to the region and beyond. 

A day earlier, Iran confirmed it had carried out a missile test and reiterated its intention to keep up ballistic activities despite Western condemnation.

Paris and London said Tehran's test was "provocative" but called for dialogue with Iran rather than sanctions as demanded by the US. 

Iran reined in most of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers, which the US walked away from in May, but has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231 adopted after the agreement calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile launches.

Tehran says it has no intention of acquiring atomic weapons and that its missile development programs are purely defensive and comply with the resolution. 

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Pompeo Urges UN to Get Tough on Iran Missiles

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged the United Nations to tighten restrictions on Iran's missiles, which he warned could strike US allies, but other powers called instead for dialogue.

Pompeo headed to New York for a Security Council meeting on Iran, which recently confirmed a medium-range ballistic missile test, arguing it is legal and necessary for its defense.

"We risk the security of our people if Iran continues stocking up on ballistic missiles," Pompeo told the Security Council.

"We risk escalation of conflict in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. And we convey to all other malign actors that they too can defy the Security Council with impunity if we do nothing," he said.

Iran has "hundreds of missiles which pose a threat to our partners in the region," Pompeo said, referring to Israel and Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia.

Pompeo said the United States would press to preserve a UN arms embargo on Iran due to expire in 2020 and urge the Security Council to set up inspections at sea to prevent weapons shipments.

He also called for the return of a firmer prohibition on Iran developing missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, toughening language from the Security Council resolution that supported the nuclear deal.

President Donald Trump has made pressuring Iran a major focus, withdrawing from an international accord on curbing Tehran's nuclear program negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama and reimposing sweeping sanctions.

Confirming US concerns, a UN report submitted to the Security Council said that recent missiles fired by Yemen's Huthi rebels were manufactured in Iran.

Saudi Arabia has been waging air strikes and a blockade against the rebels, who share religious ties with Iran, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Iran Denounces 'Lies'

Responding as Pompeo looked on, Iranian envoy Eshagh Al Habib said the top US diplomat was casting Iran as a threat to sell more "beautiful weapons," sarcastically quoting Trump's rationale for backing Saudi Arabia.

He said Iran's missiles were not nuclear in nature and defended the need for strong defense, noting that Western powers backed Saddam Hussein as his warplanes destroyed Iranian cities in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

"What we heard today was another series of lies, fabrications, disinformation and deceptive statement by the US," Al Habib said, recalling the "infamous speeches" of top US officials in the past—a clear reference to Colin Powell's selling of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“For the first time in the UN history, a permanent member of this Council is blatantly punishing UN members not for violating, rather for complying with, a Security Council resolution," he said.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also made a veiled but clear swipe at Pompeo as he denounced attempts to "fan anti-Iranian hysteria."

"There is no proof that the ballistic missiles can carry a nuclear load," Nebenzia told the council, adding that Iran "is ready for dialogue."

France, while saying it shared US goals on Iran, pleaded for the preservation of the nuclear accord, saying it was verifiably working in freezing Iran's nuclear program.

"It's only on this basis that we can build together a long-term strategy for the region," Ambassador Francois Delattre told the council.

"Such a strategy can't come down to a policy of pressure and sanctions; it equally has to come with a firm, frank dialogue with the Iranians on our concerns," he said.

European powers said they were working to ensure that Iran sees the economic fruits of compliance.

But Iran's economy has suffered a severe blow and is forecast to contract due to the renewal of sanctions by the United States, which has vowed to preclude all countries from virtually any business in Iran. 

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran Confirms Recent Missile Test Amid Western Criticism

Iran confirmed on Tuesday that it had carried out a recent test of a medium-range ballistic missile after Western powers sharply criticized a December 1 launch.

“We are continuing our missile tests and this recent one was a significant test," the Fars news agency reported, citing Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh.

"The US reaction showed that it was a big thing for them and that it upset them," the conservative news agency said, adding that Iran carried out between 40 and 50 missile tests a year.

Iran has pressed on with its ballistic missile program after reining in much of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers.

A UN Security Council resolution adopted after the agreement calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile launches.

The UN Security Council convened at the request of Britain and France on December 4 to discuss the latest test which both governments described as "provocative" and "inconsistent" with Resolution 2231.

Britain said that the types of missiles fired had capabilities that "go way beyond legitimate defensive needs".

Iran has developed several types of ballistic missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles)—sufficient to reach Israel and Western bases across the region.

In its report, Fars did not specify the date of the latest test or say which types of missile were fired.

Washington, which quit the nuclear deal in May, described the test as an outright "violation" of Resolution 2231 and called on the Security Council to condemn it.

But veto-wielding Moscow has defended Tehran's right to carry out the missile tests, and the December 4 meeting ended with no joint statement or any plan for follow-up action.

The council is due to meet again on December 19 for a regular review of the resolution's implementation.

Iran has received regular certifications of compliance with the provisions of the nuclear deal from the UN atomic watchdog.

Western criticism has focused instead on Tehran's missile program and its military interventions in the region.

Photo Credit: ISNA