Tehran, March 10 (IANS) The Iranian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the country's recent missile launches did not violate a UN resolution.
"The recent (missile) drills and the weapons used in the missile launch neither violate the JCPOA nor the UN Security Council resolution," said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari.
JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is the formal title of a deal reached with major world powers on Iran's nuclear programme, under which sanctions against Tehran were lifted, Xinhua news agency reported.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1929, Iran is prohibited from working on ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
"All Iranian short, medium and long range missiles and those of ballistic, some of which were test-fired in the recent military drills, are conventional and legitimate defensive tools and are not developed for carrying nuclear warheads," Ansari said.
On Tuesday, Iran fired several ballistic missiles at the start of major missile drills by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
On Wednesday, the IRGC fired Qadr-H and Qadr-F missiles, with a range of 1,700 km and 2,000 km respectively.
The US said on Tuesday that although Iran's recent ballistic missile tests did not violate JCPOA, the issue could be the source of concern for the West and it might be raised at the UN Security Council.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that if it was determined that Iran's ballistic missile tests were in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, Tehran could face "some consequences".
