by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
A day after Iran test fires missiles designed to hit Israel, Foreign Ministry issues a statement saying "Iran is making a mockery of the international community" • "Iran's missile program will not stop," declares top Revolutionary Guards commander.
In a photo provided by
Iran's Fars News Agency Wednesday, a Qadr H long-range missile is seen
being fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guards
|
Photo credit: AP  |
A day after Iran test-fired ballistic missiles
designed to be able to hit Israel, the Foreign Ministry issued a
statement Wednesday condemning the exercise, saying it was a "blatant
violation" of the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and Western
powers last July.
According to Iran's state media, the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps test-fired
several ballistic missiles on Tuesday and Wednesday. Iranian state
television showed footage of two Qadr missiles being launched from
northern Iran, which the IRGC said hit targets 1,400 kilometers (870
miles) away.
In the statement, the Foreign Ministry said
that "U.N. Resolution 2231 restricts Iran from launching missiles that
are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and that is precisely the kind
of missiles that Iran launched."
"The development of short-range missiles
capable of carrying nuclear warheads poses a big question regarding
Iran's commitment to fulfilling its end of the nuclear agreement," the
statement said. "Iran is making a mockery of the international
community's demands and continues to develop its attack capabilities. It
appears that [Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif's and
[Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani's diplomatic charm offensive was
nothing more than a smokescreen, designed to conceal the ayatollah
regime's true intentions."
On Thursday, Iran said that the test-fire was
not a violation of the nuclear agreement, state TV quoted Iranian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari as saying.
"Iran's missile program and its test-firing of
missiles in the past days during a military drill are not against its
nuclear commitments and the nuclear deal reached with the six powers,"
he said.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a
senior IRGC commander, was quoted by state television as saying: "Iran's
missile program will not stop under any circumstances. The IRGC has
never accepted the U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iran's missile
work. We are always ready to defend the country against any aggressor.
Iran will not turn into Yemen, Iraq or Syria."
"The more sanctions and pressure our enemies
apply ... the more we will develop our missile program," Hajizadeh said
on state television.
On Wednesday, U.S. Democratic presidential
front-runner Hillary Clinton called for sanctions against Iran over the
ballistic missile test.
Clinton, a former secretary of state under
President Barack Obama, said she was "deeply concerned" by the tests.
"Iran should face sanctions for these activities and the international
community must demonstrate that Iran's threats toward Israel will not be
tolerated," said Clinton, who is ahead in the race to be the Democratic
nominee at the Nov. 8 presidential elections.
Her call for sanctions reflected a tougher
line against Iran's recent missile activity than that taken so far by
the White House, which said it is aware of and reviewing reports of the
Iranian tests, and would determine an appropriate response.
"We know that Iran is in a season of carrying
out a number of military activities, and so it certainly would not be a
surprise if there are additional launches over the next several days,"
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The Iranian move on Wednesday came despite
warning from the U.S. State Department after Tuesday's missile tests
that Washington continues to "aggressively apply our unilateral tools to
counter threats from Iran's missile program," a possible reference to
additional U.S. sanctions.
U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, who was
visiting Israel on Wednesday, declared that "we will act," if Iran
breaks the terms of the nuclear deal.
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on
Wednesday with Iran's foreign minister about the test-firing of two
ballistic missiles, a State Department spokesman said.
"The secretary did raise his concerns today
with Foreign Minister Zarif," State Department spokesman John Kirby told
reporters in a daily briefing.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told
Israel Radio the tests showed Iran's hostility had not changed since
implementing a nuclear deal with world powers in January, despite
Rouhani's overtures to the West.
"To my regret there are some in the West who
are misled by the honeyed words uttered by part of the Iranian
leadership while the other part continues to procure equipment and
weaponry, to arm terrorist groups," Ya'alon said.
Representative Ed Royce, the Republican
chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee,
said, "Iran is making a mockery of President Obama's vow to confront
Iran's dangerous and illicit acts."
He urged Obama to "aggressively enforce all
sanctions against Iran's missile programs, support for terrorism and
human rights abuses. No more looking the other way."
Washington imposed sanctions against
businesses and individuals in January over another missile test in
October 2015. But the IRGC said it would not bow to pressure.
The IRGC maintains dozens of short and
medium-range ballistic missiles, the largest stock in the Middle East.
It says they are solely for defensive use with conventional, non-nuclear
warheads.
Iran has denied U.S. accusations of acting
"provocatively," citing the long history of U.S. interventions in the
Middle East and its own right to self-defense.
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=32325
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment