Iran Reports Successful Launch of Missile as U.S. Considers New Sanctions
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Version 0 of 1. TEHRAN — Iran successfully launched a missile into space on Thursday, state media reported, two days after the United States House of Representatives approved a bill that would impose additional sanctions against the country, and Russia and North Korea. Such tests of what are essentially carrier rockets are not prohibited under the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and a group of six world powers including the United States. That agreement eased existing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country’s verifiable promises to restrict its nuclear program to peaceful purposes. President Trump has called the 2015 agreement a “very bad deal” for the United States and a disastrous giveaway to Iran. He suggested during the presidential campaign that he would end the deal. But the other parties to the agreement — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — do not share Mr. Trump’s objections, and a withdrawal by the Trump administration would leave the United States isolated on the issue. The International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations has repeatedly found Iran to be in compliance with the agreement, despite Mr. Trump’s assertions that it is not adhering to “the spirit” of the deal. His administration is now pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites in an effort to test the strength of the deal, which Iran has repeatedly said it is following. In June, it launched six missiles aimed at what it said were Islamic State terrorists in Syria. Last week, the Trump administration announced new Iran-related sanctions it said were meant to show its toughened stance toward the country despite having grudgingly affirmed its compliance with the nuclear deal. The sanctions, announced jointly by the Justice, State and Treasury departments, designated 18 individuals and entities that the administration said were involved in activities that included missile development, software theft and weapons procurement. “The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran’s malign activities across the Middle East, which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity,” the announcement said. The move came less than 12 hours after Mr. Trump reluctantly agreed to declare that Iran had honored the 2015 agreement. By law, the president must make such a declaration every 90 days. The missile launched on Thursday is known as a Simorgh, or Phoenix, missile, which experts said was a copy of North Korea’s Unha space-launch rocket. Iran’s national news channel said its missile was capable of placing satellites weighing up to 550 pounds into a 310-mile low earth orbit. Nader Karimi Joni, a journalist close to the government of President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, said the launch on Thursday was a reaction to the House vote on Tuesday approving the new sanctions. The legislation will now go to the Senate, although it is unclear when the measure will be voted on there. “Iran is boosting its missile capabilities to order to increase the accuracy, preciseness and range,” Mr. Joni said. “Iran will not stop the missile projects.” |