Late Friday, Iranian state television broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), showed exclusive footage of Iran testing their newest ballistic missile, the Khorramshahr.
The Khorramshahr has a range of 1,200 miles and reportedly can carry multiple warheads.
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The footage showed four different camera angles giving more attention to production value and marketing.
IRIB narrated the video, “You are seeing images of the successful test of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile with the range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), the latest missile of our country.”
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, “We will promote our defensive and military power as much as we deem necessary…We seek no one’s permission to defend our land.”
He added, “Whether you like it or not we are going to help Syria, Yemen and Palestine, and we will strengthen our missiles.”
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The new missile puts Israel well within range of Iran’s capabilities which furthers Iran’s repeatedly stated goal of wiping Israel off the map.
This launch comes at a time when U.S. President Trump has questioned whether the U.S. should stay in the hotly disputed 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement that President Obama enacted with Iran and other world powers.
One of the pillars of President Trump’s presidential campaign was how bad the Iran deal was and that it needed work.
In October, President Trump will need to decide whether to agree that Iran is, or is not, complying with the 2015 agreement. This period is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
If President Trump does not certify Iran’s compliance with the agreement, then Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose Iranian sanctions that were waived when the agreement was signed.
The fate of the reimposed sanctions would lie in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hands along with House Speaker Paul Ryan.
The U.S. consistently claims that Iran’s missile tests and rocket launches violate UN rules, specifically UN Resolution 2231, which was adopted in July 2015, along with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran, the U.S. and other powers.
