Iranian general sees no ‘limitations’ to expanding range of missiles: report

Iran plans to expand the range of its missile program, a high-ranking military official was quoted as saying Tuesday, despite strong warnings from the U.S.

“One of our most important programs is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition,” the head of the Iranian air force, Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh told the semi-official Fars news agency, according to Reuters.

“We don’t see any limitations for ourselves in this field.”{mosads}

White House officials condemned an Iranian missile test earlier this week, saying they violated a United Nations Security Council resolution that bans Iran from working on any technology that could help create ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons.

“As we have been warning for some time, Iran’s missile testing and missile proliferation is growing,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday in a statement. “We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence.”

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

White House national security adviser John Bolton said Saturday that Iran’s behavior would not be tolerated.

Iran just test-fired an INF range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated. https://t.co/EcPQ6MMjv7

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 1, 2018

Iran on Sunday pushed back against the U.S., saying that its missile tests were defensive and vowing to continue such tests in the future. 

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif defended the missile program over Twitter.

Making a mockery of the UNSC won’t obscure failure to fulfill obligations & to hold US to account over non-compliance. Esp when even US admits that UNSCR2231 does NOT prohibit Iran’s deterrent capabilities. Rather than undermining 2231, better to work towards its adherence by all pic.twitter.com/WumPUftS4K

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 4, 2018

Tensions have heightened between Iran and the U.S. under the Trump administration, which withdrew the U.S. from an Obama-era nuclear pact and last month finished reimplementing the sanctions the pact had lifted.

Last Thursday, the administration floated the use of military action against Iran, if sanctions fail to keep Tehran from funneling weapons to hostile groups in the region.