United States confirms latest Iranian missile test

WASHINGTON: A US Defense official confirmed to Arab News that Iran fired a “defensive Mersad surface to air missile” on Wednesday, while making it clear that the Donald Trump administration is “watching and monitoring Iran’s military behavior carefully.”
The official said the missile was a short-range missile as opposed to the medium-range one it had launched 12 days ago.
It was fired from the same launchpad Iran used on Jan. 29 and was put “on notice” thereafter, the US official said.
Wednesday’s test is not however seen by Washington as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Instead, US officials are viewing it in context of the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, which is marked by Iran Friday.
The official said that the US is committed to regional security and is “watching carefully Iran’s military behavior.”
Since the test is not seen as a violation of UN resolutions, it is not expected that the Trump team will escalate with more sanctions on Iran.
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn put Iran “on notice” after its initial test in January, followed by financial sanctions and the current deliberations to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.
Arab News has also learned that the administration is considering tightening the noose on Hezbollah with more banking sanctions and measures that would restrict the flow of arms to the Iranian-backed militia.