Trump points to Iran missile test in criticising nuke deal

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has pointed to a reported missile test by Iran to renew his criticism of the nuclear agreement it reached with the United States and other nations.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Friday displayed its latest ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and much of the Middle East. The US opposes Iran’s ballistic missile programme and Trump signed a bill last month imposing penalties on those involved with it.

Video of the test firing of a Khoramshahr medium-range ballistic missile aired on Friday on Iran’s state TV. The time or location of the test was not mentioned in the report.

Trump tweeted on Saturday about the public unveiling of the missile: “Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel. They are also working with North Korea. Not much of an agreement we have!”

The nuclear agreement reached during the Obama

administration doesn’t prohibit Iran from developing missiles.

Trump has suggested he might seek to renegotiate the nuclear deal or abandon it.

He told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the accord was “nothing short of an embarrassment” and the “worst one-sided deal perhaps in American

history.”

Officials have said Trump might use the October 15 deadline for certifying to Congress whether Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal to either declare Iran in violation or determine that the agreement is no longer in the national security interest of the US.