Iran will not bow to “useless” threats from President Donald Trump’s administration, declared a top adviser to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the Middle Eastern nation test-fired a ballistic missile reportedly capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.
“This is not the first time that an inexperienced person has threatened Iran… the American government will understand that threatening Iran is useless,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, without specifically naming any U.S. official, reports Reuters.
“Iran does not need permission from any country to defend itself,” added the adviser to country’s most powerful figure Khamenei, according to the Islamic Republic’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
Citing unnamed intelligence sources German newspaper Die Welt reports that the Islamic Republic has tested a home-made cruise missile dubbed “Soumar” that is capable of carrying a nuclear load.
The Trump administration is expected to impose additional sanctions on various Iranian entities, according to various news outlets.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump said “nothing’s off the table,” referring to action against Iran.
President Trump added on Twitter, “Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile…”
Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
On Wednesday, Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, referred to Iran’s recent missile test as a “provocative” breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
In response, the Iranian adviser, also dismissed the U.S. warnings as “baseless ranting,” reports CNN, citing the Fars News Agency.
Iran has conceded testing a new ballistic missile but denied breaching the 2015 nuclear deal reached with five U.S.-led world powers or a United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed the agreement.
“The missile test on Sunday was successful… the test was not a violation of a nuclear deal with world powers or any U.N. resolution,” Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan told the country’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Thursday.
Although most U.N. sanctions against Iran have been suspended as a result of the nuclear pact, the Islamic Republic is still subject to an arms embargo and other restriction imposed by the international body.
Reuters reports:
A U.S. official said Iran had test-launched the medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday and it exploded after traveling 630 miles (1,010 km). Iran said it had been a successful launch.
A series of tests conducted by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in 2016 caused international concern, with some powers saying any launch of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles would violate U.N. Security Council resolution 2231.
According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the IRGC holds an arsenal of dozens of short and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Trump has repeatedly expressed disdain towards the Iran nuclear deal, calling it weak and ineffective.
Despite Iran’s claims that its missile program is intended to display the country’s “deterrent power and its ability to confront any threat,” some IRGC commanders have declared that Iran’s medium-range ballistic missiles are designed to hit Israel, which the Islamic Republic refuses to recognize, notes Reuters.
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