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U.S. Issues Official Warning to Iran after Missile Test Confirmed | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Michael Flynn. Lauren Victoria Burke/AP Photo


London – The United States said on Wednesday it would act against Iran should it continue to test ballistic missiles and support Houthi insurgents in war-torn Yemen.

U.S. Presidential Security Adviser Michael Flynn strongly condemned Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests and its military support to Houthis in his first public remarks since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Flynn stressed that the Persian State was threatening U.S. allies and spreading instability throughout the Middle East.

Addressing reporters at the White House, the U.S. official said: “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.”

He added that Tehran specifically violated the United Nations’ ban on “activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

A U.S. official said Iran had test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday and it exploded after traveling 630 miles (1,010 km).

Speaking on Wednesday, Iran’s Defense Minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan confirmed reports of his country’s missile test, but stressed that it was not in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Dehghan neither revealed where the test was carried out nor specified the type of missile.

“The recent test was in line with our plans and we will not allow foreigners to interfere in our defense affairs,” Dehghan was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

“The test did not violate the nuclear deal or (U.N.) Resolution 2231,” he added.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state news agency IRNA quoted Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s National Security Council, as saying his country would not seek “permission from any country or international organization for development of our conventional defensive capability”.

In earlier comments, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran would never use its ballistic missiles to attack another country.

In response to the U.S. warning, around 220 Iranian parliament members reaffirmed support for Tehran’s missile program, describing international condemnation of the tests “illogical”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is against weapons of mass destruction, so its missile capability is the only available deterrence against enemy hostility,” the parliamentarians said in a statement issued on Wednesday.