Iranian state TV announced Thursday that the nation has unveiled two new missiles, one named after a top Iranian military official who was killed this year by a U.S. drone strike.
Iran celebrated its National Day of the Defense Industry by launching a new 870-mile rocket, the “Martyr Hajj Qassem,” named for Qassem Soleimani generation. The other, a 620-mile naval cruise missile, was named the ‘Martyr Abu Mahdi’, after Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who had close ties with Iran.
Muhandis was killed in the same January drone strike that killed Soleimani.
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The announcement follows the vote of the United Nations Security Council, which failed to extend an arms embargo on Iran that expires in October.
Only the Dominican Republic supported the measure, China and Russia voted against it and 11 of the 15 member states refused to vote in full.
“Rockets and especially cruise missiles are very important to us,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Reuters. The fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1,000 in less than two years is a great achievement. “
The Iranian missile programs are defensive, he said.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been high since President Trump withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018. Trump has claimed that the Obama-era deal was a waste of money and that Iran did not keep its end of the trade.
Because the arms embargo will not be extended, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday called for the UN to restore sanctions on Iran – a policy called the so-called snapback, because it would restore sanctions imposed for the deal on Iran’s to limit nuclear program was achieved.
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‘It’s a snapback. “Not uncommon,” President Trump told a news conference on Wednesday.
The US goal is to halt Iran’s nuclear development, the ballistic missile program and state – sponsored terrorism.
“Iran has violated the arms embargo several times by proliferating weapons to its partners and proxies throughout the Middle East region,” Pompeo wrote to the United Nations on Thursday. “In addition, Iran has repeatedly elaborated on the Security Council’s call for related activity related to ballistic missile technology.”
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It is unclear how the UN member states will respond to the call for snap-back sanctions, although Russia and China have already said they will not support the measures.
Iran has also said it will not hold talks on its capabilities for nuclear and ballistic missiles, as long as sanctions remain in place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
