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Iran claims test for ballistic missile which can reach Israel
An Iranian military official has claimed that Tehran tested a precision-guided ballistic missile with the capability of reaching Israel.
Speaking at a science conference, Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi said that two weeks ago “we test-fired a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres and a margin of error of eight metres,” a range which would allow them to strike Israel. In comments reported by the state-run Tasnim news agency, Abdollahi added that the “missile enjoys zero error”.
In March, Iranian state television showed images of missiles, apparently the medium-range Qiam-1 missiles, being fired from a variety of underground locations. Later images showed that the missiles were marked with the words “Israel must be wiped out” in Hebrew. They were the third ballistic missile tests conducted by Iran since signing a long-term nuclear agreement with the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) in July 2015. Related nuclear sanctions on Iran were lifted in January.
Such tests are a breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1929, passed in 2010, which bans Iran from any ballistic missile development capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology. It is also a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, passed the day after July’s accord was signed, which compels Iran to refrain from any work on ballistic missiles for eight years. In January, the United States imposed new sanctions on eleven Iranian individuals and businesses linked to missile tests in October. Following March’s tests, UK, US, France and Germany appealed for UN action over the “destabilising and provocative” tests.
However, Iran’s Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan cast some doubt over the nature of the most recent missile tests, as described yesterday by Abdollahi. Speaking to the IRNA state news agency, Dehghan said: “We haven’t test-fired a missile with the range media reported.” Nonetheless, in March, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated that missile development remains key to the country’s future.