Iran’s Revolutionary Guards test fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday morning, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies said, continuing a military exercise that has drawn a threat of a diplomatic response from the United States.
The two Qadr H missiles were fired from northern Iran and hit targets in the southeast of the country 1,400 kms (870 miles) away, the agencies said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington would review the incident and, if it is confirmed, raise it in the U.N. Security Council and seek an “appropriate response”.
“We also continue to aggressively apply our unilateral tools to counter threats from Iran’s missile program,” Toner added, in a possible reference to additional U.S. sanctions.
An Iranian state television report showed a missile being fired from a fortified underground silo at night time. The presenter said it was a medium-range Qiam-1 missile, and the test took place in the early hours of Tuesday.
The report said the Guards had fired several missiles from silos across the country, though it only showed footage of one. “The missiles struck a target 700 km away,” said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s aerospace arm.
State-run Press TV had earlier shown footage of the Emad missile, Iran’s most advanced model under development, being fired. However, that footage appeared to be of the earlier October launch that triggered the U.S. sanctions.(Reuter)
Link: http://atimes.com/2016/03/us-hints-at-diplomatic-response-as-iran-test-fires-two-more-missiles/
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