Iran Tests New Ballistic Missile in Violation of Nuclear Deal

The ink has barely dried on the nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran has already violated it.

Iran has tested a new long-range ballistic missile just hours ahead of a contentious session of the Majlis, the Iranian parliament, where some parts of the nuclear agreement with the U.S. and other world powers was approved.

The test clearly violates a UN resolution passed after the agreement was reached that prevented Iran from conducting tests of a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

New York Times:

The missile launch may have violated the terms of the agreement, reached in Vienna with six world powers. According to some readings of the deal, it placed restrictions on Iran’s ambitious missile program.

Experts have been debating the interpretation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, adopted a few days after the accord was agreed upon, that bars Iran from developing missiles “designed to carry nuclear warheads.”

Hard-line Iranian officials had for months been demanding new missile tests, a common practice before the negotiations over the country’s nuclear program began in 2013.

The missile — named Emad, or pillar — is a step up from Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles because it can be guided toward its target, the Iranian defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, told the semiofficial Fars news agency. In recent decades, with Iran’s air force plagued by economic sanctions and other restrictions, the country has invested heavily in its nuclear program and has produced missiles that can reach as far as Europe.

“We don’t seek permission from anyone to strengthen our defense and missile capabilities,” Mr. Dehghan said.

Also on Sunday, members of Parliament voted in favor of a bill approving the generalities of the nuclear agreement, but they had been denied information on its details. State television broadcast the session using only audio and archived images of Parliament.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, who had gone to Parliament to defend the deal, said in a speech that a member had threatened to kill him and bury his body “in the cement of the Arak heavy-water reactor.”

Under the nuclear agreement, a heavy-water plant in Arak will be redesigned and turned into a relatively less dangerous light-water reactor. The threat, which sounded like something from an American gangster film, was made in front of witnesses by a hard-line representative, Ruhollah Hosseinian, according to reports.

“According to some readings of the deal…”? Probably not Barack Obama’s understanding, since if he accused the Iranians of cheating, he would have to start the long, laborious process of committees, panels, hearings, and ultimately, a vote at the UN regarding whether or not Iran has cheated. Even if they discovered that were true, who wants to bet that those sanctions will “snap back” in place?

Better for Obama to just keep his mouth shut and let Iran continue with their program to build a nuke.

And that threat made to kill a minister and bury his body in a nuclear reactor gives a clear indication that we’ve certainly made a deal with the right people: cultured, civilized, and can be counted on to keep their word.

For about 6 months.