TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday warned the United States against “creating new tensions” with Tehran over ballistic missiles tests.
“We hope that Iran’s defence programme is not used by the new US administration… as a pretext to create new tensions,” Zarif said in a televised press conference with visiting French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The UN Security Council is due to hold emergency talks called by Washington on Tuesday on Iran’s recent test-firing of a medium-range missile, which Tehran has not confirmed.
Missile Test no breach of UN resolution
Russia on Tuesday said that a reported ballistic missile test by Iran does not contravene a United Nations resolution on Tehran’s nuclear programme, after the US requested emergency UN consultations.
“Such actions, if they took place, do not breach the resolution,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax news agency, saying demands for UN talks were aimed at “heating up the situation”.
