Iran Tests A Medium-Range Missile, on Wednesday a United States military official said playing it down by saying that it did not pose a threat to American or other Western shipping or military bases in the region..
The missile was launched from the southern coast of Iran and landed east of Tehran the official said on Thursday adding that it flew about 1,100 kilometers or about 680 miles and stayed inside for the entire flight.
The official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence analyses said that American officials had been closely monitoring the test site as Iran prepared the missile for launch.
Despite the Pentagon’s effort to minimize the strategic importance of the launch on Wednesday it appears to be a political statement by Iran acting both as a carefully calibrated effort at escalation and as a message to Europe.
Last week in New York Iran’s foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that if the United States wanted to discuss missile limitations it should begin by not supplying Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states with missiles that threaten Iran. The test on Wednesday seemed meant to drive home the point that Iran had no intention on giving up on its own missile fleet.