US VOWS TO REIN IN IRAN

washington— The United States on Thursday vowed to remain “relentless” in pressuring Iran to deter its missile programme after the Islamic Republic unveiled a new ballistic weapon days after testing a cruise missile.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles), their official news agency Sepah News reported.

The move was the latest show of military might by the country as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

“Iran’s blatant disregard for international norms must be addressed,” State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

“We must bring back tougher international restrictions to deter Iran’s missile programme,” he added.

“The United States will continue to be relentless in building support around the world to confront the Iranian regime’s reckless ballistic missile activity, and we will continue to impose sufficient pressure on the regime so that it changes its malign behaviour — including by fully implementing all of our sanctions.”

Tehran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers but has kept up development of its ballistic missile technology.

President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear accord in May and reimposed sanctions on Iran, citing the programme among its reasons.

“Iran’s latest missile launch again proves the Iran deal is doing nothing to stop Iran’s missile programme,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted late on Thursday.

Meanwhile, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 — adopted just after the nuclear deal — calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons”. —

We must bring back tougher international restrictions to deter Iran’s missile programme Robert Palladino, US State Department deputy spokesman