Iran Continues Ballistic-Missiles Tests Move extends launches this week following vows by officials to press ahead with program By Asa Fitch
http://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-continues-ballistic-missiles-test-1457518830
DUBAI—Iran test fired two types of medium-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, extending a barrage of tests this week following vows by officials to press ahead with its missile program despite U.S. pressure to curtail it.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired off “Qadr-H” and “Qadr-F” missiles from mountainous sites in northern Iran, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency. The missiles traveled 870 miles to the country’s sparsely populated southeastern coast, it said.
The tests followed the previous day’s tests of several ballistic missiles from silos in central Iran, the country’s first since the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 11 Iranian entities in January over alleged links to the missile program.
A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that while the tests were “inconsistent” with a United Nations Security Council Resolution calling on Iran not to pursue missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads, they didn’t constitute a violation of last year’s historic nuclear deal.
The U.S. sees Iranian missiles as a threat to Israel, its key Middle Eastern ally, and to Arab allies in the Persian Gulf. There are also substantial U.S. military assets in the region, including a large naval base in Bahrain.
Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Tuesday that most of Iran’s arsenal of missiles was capable of reaching Israel, according to Tasnim. Iranian enemies in the region “should be in panic about the roar of the IRGC missiles,” he said. CONTINUE AT SITE
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