Iran Test Launches Multiple-Warhead Ballistic Missile

"Missile tests and the overall defensive capability of the Islamic Republic are for defense [purposes] and in line with our country's deterrence [policy]..."

Iran has long refused to compromise on its missile development programs, recently revealing that the country's missile forces can deliver a payload at a distance of some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). "Trump came in, ripped it up and now we are seeing more missile tests, we're seeing escalation and we are seeing a drift towards war".

"It is a grave and escalating threat, and nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran's missile program", Hook said.

While tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain at an all time high after Tehran test fired a ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple warheads, violating United Nations resolutions, on Saturday.

We condemn these activities, and call upon Iran to cease immediately all activities related to ballistic missiles created to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

For the last 12 years, the UN Security Council has been telling the Iranian regime to stop testing and proliferating ballistic missiles, and Iran continues to defy the UN Security Council, which is acting like an outlaw regime. Russia, he said, is violating key arms control treaties and undermining the sovereignty of its neighbors, while Iran is flouting U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Iran has repeatedly said its missile program is purely defensive and denied its missiles are capable of being tipped with nuclear warheads.

France said it was concerned by the test, with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilizing" and saying it "does not conform" with United Nations resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

"It was a mistake to exclude missiles from the Iran nuclear deal and is one of the principle reasons the United States left it", Hook said, directly criticizing the previous administration for caving to Iran's demands that its advanced missile program not be covered under the deal.

On Monday, Iran's oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said Tehran aims to help regular Iranians cope with the economic problems created by U.S. pressure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pictured in front of a menorah on the second night of the Hanukkah festival, during their meeting on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation conference in Brussels, Belgium, on December 3, 2018.

Pompeo's address, which was met with polite applause, rejected concerns among many traditional US allies that Trump is undermining the West by withdrawing from climate, free-trade and arms control accords. "This test violates UNSCR 2231", he added, citing the United Nations Security Council's endorsement of the global nuclear agreement.

US President Donald Trump is building a new world order upheld by American leadership and democracy, his secretary of state told diplomats at an event in Brussels on Tuesday, blaming Iran and China for instability in the world.

Mattis said "the threat from Iran is multifaceted", adding that "right now the strategic level of threat from Iran is less worldwide than Korea's, but it is certainly significant regionally and it could grow beyond that if it's not dealt with".