U.S. Warns Iranian Ballistic Missile Tests ‘Absolutely Unacceptable’

The United States has warned Iran that its January 29 test of a long-range ballistic missile was “absolutely unacceptable” and said it violated Tehran’s nuclear accord with world powers.

The new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued the warning on January 31 after a closed-door UN Security Council meeting that the United States had called to discuss the missile launch.

“We have confirmed that Iran did have a medium-size missile launch testing on January 29, on Sunday. This is absolutely unacceptable,” Haley told reporters in New York.

She challenged Iran’s assertion that its missiles are not in violation of a UN resolution passed after the 2015 nuclear accord was signed. Iran says that they are for defense only and that it does not intend to put nuclear warheads in them.

“They know that they are not supposed to be doing ballistic missile testing” of anything that can carry warheads, said Haley.

She said the missile launched on January 29 was capable of carrying a 500-kilogram payload and had a range of 300 kilometers, putting it in violation of the nuclear accord.

“That is more than enough to be able to deliver a nuclear weapon,” she said.