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US and UK condemn Iranian ballistic missile test
Israel’s Security Cabinet held a special meeting yesterday after Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile that can reach Israel.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB showed footage of the new ballistic missile test on Saturday, named the Khorramshahr missile with a range of 1,200 miles. It included video from an on-board camera which it said showed the detachment of the cone that carries multiple warheads.
The Khorramshahr missile is a modified North-Korean missile, which is based on a Russian ballistic missile fired from a submarine. The North Koreans reportedly shipped 20 such missiles to Iran in 2005.
On Saturday, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “The ballistic missile that was fired by Iran is not only a provocation and a slap in the face for the US and its allies – and an attempt to test them – but also further proof of the Iranian ambitions to become a world power and threaten countries in the Middle East.”
He added: “Imagine what would happen if Iran would acquire nuclear weapons. That is what it is striving for. We cannot allow it to happen.”
On Saturday afternoon, US President Donald Trump tweeted: “Iran just test-fired a ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel. They are also working with North Korea. Not much of an agreement we have!” UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was “extremely concerned” and called on Iran to stop its “provocative acts”.
The Khorramshahr missile was first displayed at a military parade on Friday, where President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would strengthen its missile capabilities despite violating UN resolutions.
Annex B of UN Security Council resolution 2231, passed at the time of the signing of the 2015 nuclear agreement, calls upon Iran to refrain from developing missiles “designed to be capable of carrying” nuclear warheads. Although Iran argues that its missile programme has no nuclear application, the US and Israel view the tests as a violation of international law and in violation the spirit of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Johnson said the missile test was “inconsistent with resolution 2231”.
Writing in Yediot Ahronot, military affairs correspondent Alex Fishman argued that the only logical reason Iran would need the Khorramashahr missile is to carry a nuclear warhead.