WarSclerotic

The U.S. delegation to the United Nations has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council following Iran’s medium-range ballistic missile test earlier this week.

According to U.S. defense sources, the missile launched on Sunday reached a distance of around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before exploding mid-air.

At the emergency session Tuesday night, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the missile test unacceptable.

“The United States is not naive. We are not going to stand by. You will see us call them out as we said we would, and you are also going to see us act accordingly,” Haley said.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called on the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action.

“Iran has again violated Security Council resolutions and again revealed its true intentions. The international community must not bury its head in the sand and ignore the Iranian aggression,” Danon said.

In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said, “We’re aware of reports that Iran conducted a medium-range ballistic missile test in recent days. We are looking into these reports. We are, however, well aware of and deeply troubled by Iran’s long-standing provocative and irresponsible activities and we call on Iran to cease such provocations.”

Toner indicated the Trump administration might consider the test a violation of the nuclear agreement with Iran.

“All countries, including Iran, must fully and effectively implement all the provisions of [United Nations] Resolution 2231,” which governs the Iran nuclear deal, Toner said.

“When actions are taken that violate or are inconsistent with the resolution, we will act to hold Iran accountable and urge other countries to do so as well. We vigorously enforce the measures contained in UNSCR 2231 related to the transfer of items related to ballistic missiles.”

Iran cautioned the U.S. against using the missile test as a pretext for escalating tensions between the two countries.

“Iran will never use missiles produced in Iran to attack any other country,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

Zarif would neither confirm nor deny the missile test had taken place. He did, however, note that “the missiles aren’t part of the nuclear accords.”

The Russian envoy to the U.N. echoed Zarif’s statement at the emergency session and said the missile test was not a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution.