Tehran – Iran held a military exercise and tested rockets on Saturday, a day after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran in response to a ballistic missile test last weekend.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard emphasized that the military exercise was a response to “threats and sanctions” by Washington.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department added 13 individuals and 12 companies to its sanctions list for their role in Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well as for providing support to the Corps-Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guard.
Iran criticized the move, saying it would not allow its domestic security to become the focus of international debate.
“The amateur and irrational policies of the new US administration will change nothing about the principles of Iranian politics,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
An Iranian surface-to-air missile is launched during a military drill at an undisclosed location in Iran, on Nov. 14, 2012. (Credit Image: © Majid Asgaripour/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com) Photo: Majid Asgaripour via Xinhua/ZUMA/dpa
Some Iranians have also been critical of Trump, saying his message goes beyond standard politics.
“Until now it was politics. Trump seems to have something personal against us,” said 46-year-old housewife Fariba D. from Tehran.
“[Former US president Barack] Obama only had something against the regime, but [Trump] apparently also against the country and people,” she said.
Others have criticized their own government as well.
“I don’t understand why they have to shoot rockets into the air every month,” a bazaar trader in Tehran said.
It’s “just simply dumb” to provoke Trump directly at the start of his presidency, he said.
Earlier in the week, US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said the missile test was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran from participating in any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.
Iran maintains the missile cannot carry a nuclear warhead and the test was not in violation of the UN resolution.
On Saturday, US Defence Secretary James Mattis called Iran “the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.”
At a joint press conference with Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada in Tokyo, Mattis, however, added that, “I don’t see any need to increase the number of forces we have in the region at this time.”
-dpa
