Senate

Senators push Obama for response to Iran’s ballistic missile test

by Jordain Carney - 10/15/15 11:47 AM ET

Senators are pushing the Obama administration to say how it plans to respond to a ballistic missile test by Iran.

Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) sent a letter to President Obama about the long-range missile test that Iran conducted over the weekend, which they called “troubling.”

{mosads}”We are interested to know how your administration will respond. We worry that tough statements followed by inaction will further undermine U.S. national security,” the two senators wrote.

The letter comes after administration officials acknowledged that Iran “likely” violated a United Nations resolution with the test. The administration is expected to bring up the incident at the U.N. Security Council, which would then determine if Iran violated a resolution on missile activities.

Kirk and Ayotte said they want to know whether Obama believes that Iran violated the resolution, how he plans to respond and whether he will commit to not lifting sanctions related to the U.N. resolution.

The two Republicans also want to know the administration’s strategy behind treating the missile program as separate from Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which the senators call a “flawed argument.”

Separately, senators are pushing Secretary of State John Kerry on the issue.

Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) sent a letter to Kerry, arguing that it’s “vitally important” to confront a missile violation, if it did occur.

They added that they would like to “clearly understand” how the administration would respond if Iran conducts a similar test after the U.N. resolution backing the nuclear deal is accepted, and if it would “be considered a violation” of the resolution.

The letters come ahead of “adoption day” for the nuclear agreement, under which Iran will limit its nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief.