BERLIN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iran tested a cruise missile called "Sumar" that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons in addition to test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday, German newspaper Die Welt reported Thursday, citing unspecified intelligence sources.

No comment was immediately available from Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency or from Iranian authorities.

The newspaper said the Sumar cruise missile was built in Iran and travelled around 600 km in its first known successful test. The missile is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons and may have a range of 2,000 to 3,000 km, the paper said, citing intelligence sources.

Cruise missiles are harder to counter than ballistic missiles since they fly at lower altitudes and can evade enemy radar, confounding missile defence missiles and hitting targets deep inside an opponent's territory.

But the biggest advantage from Iran's point of view, a security expert told Die Welt, was that cruise missiles are not mentioned in any United Nations resolutions that ban work on ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

News of Iran's reported cruise missile test came hours after the White House put Iran "on notice" for its ballistic missile test and signalled that it could impose new sanctions, taking an aggressive posture toward Tehran that could raise tensions in the region.

Iran confirmed on Wednesday that it had test-fired a new ballistic missile, but said the test did not breach the Islamic Republic's nuclear agreement with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Ralph Boulton)</s>BERLIN
• Iran has tested a cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in addition to test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday, German newspaper Die Welt reported yesterday, citing unspecified intelligence sources.

No comment was immediately available from Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency or from Iranian authorities.

If confirmed, the test will further infuriate the White House, which has already warned Iran over the ballistic missile test.

Die Welt said the Sumar cruise missile, built in Iran, travelled around 600km in its first known successful test. It is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons and could have a range of up to 3,000km, said the paper, citing intelligence sources.

Cruise missiles are harder to counter than ballistic missiles as they fly at lower altitudes and can evade enemy radar, confounding missile defence missiles and hitting targets deep inside an opponent's territory.

The biggest advantage from Iran's point of view, a security expert told Die Welt, is that cruise missiles are not mentioned in any United Nations resolutions that ban work on ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Under the deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of most sanctions. Under a 2015 UN resolution endorsing the deal, Iran is still called upon to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.</s>Donald Trump said the Middle Eastern country, rather than antagonise rivals, should be thankful for a "terrible" US trade deal they benefited from. The President of the United States Tweeted this lunchtime: "Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile. "Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!

"Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion" Michael Flynn said: "As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.

"The Obama administration failed to respond adequately to Tehran's malign actions — including weapons transfers, support for terrorism and other violations of international norms." He added the launch of the missile, which failed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, was "unacceptable". White House officials, however, refused to specify how Iran was being put "on notice". They suggested the US may economically punish the country or aid its rivals. They also refused to rule out military action.

Iran said the test did not breach any UN regulations. Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said: "We have previously announced that we will execute the programmes we have planned in production of defence equipment meant for our national interests and objectives," Iranian media quoted him as saying. "Nobody can influence our decision. We will not allow foreigners to interfere in our defence affairs. The test did not violate the nuclear deal or [UN] Resolution 2231."

In March Iran tested two missiles - one of which was covered with the phrase 'Israel must be wiped out' in Hebrew. The country claim to have nuclear weapons capable of striking anywhere in the Middle East - including a number of US military bases.</s>Iranian Foreign Minister dismissed US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s remarks about Iran’s recent missile test as “baseless”, media reports said.

“Iran’s missile test does not contradict the UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” Xinhua news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying on Thursday.

The remarks by Flynn are “baseless and provocative”, Qasemi said, adding that “none of the Iranian missiles has been designed for delivering nuclear weapons”. Flynn said on Wednesday that Iran’s recent ballistic missile launch is in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015 to endorse a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, IRNA news agency reported.

You may also like to watch this video</s>Iran has rejected a warning from US President Donald Trump’s administration over its latest ballistic missile test.

A senior Iranian official has said that Iran will not bow to US threats in response to White House statements.



In reaction to comments by American officials on Tehran’s latest missile tests, the foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader emphasized that the Islamic Republic does not wait for permission from any foreign state to defend itself.

He said “the missiles, which were put to test were defensive,” adding that Iran will continue its missile work with full strength.

Bahram Ghasemi, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, also slammed the US over their warning.

“Instead of thanking Iran for its continued fight against terrorism … the American government is practically helping the terrorists by claims about Iran that are baseless, repetitive and provocative,” he said

Speaking to reporters, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Ayatollah’s foreign policy adviser, said that Iran would continue building its defensive capabilities regardless of any warnings from Washington.

“This is not the first time that an inexperienced person has threatened Iran,” Velayati told Fars News Agency, without naming anyone specific.“The American government will understand that threatening Iran is useless.”

“Iran does not need permission from any country to defend itself,” he added.

On Monday, US officials told Fox News that Iran had tested a Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile, which flew 600 miles before exploding.

This was followed on Wednesday by National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and US President Donald Trump announcing that Iran had been put “on notice,” without specifying what this meant.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan confirmed that Iran did indeed test the missile. “The recent test was in line with our programs, and we will not allow any outsider to interfere in our defense affairs,” Dehqan told Tasnim News Agency.

Dehqan insisted that the launch did not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal signed between Iran and six major world powers (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) in July 2015, which curbs Tehran’s nuclear program.

In an interview on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow also considered Iran’s missile tests to be in line with the JCPOA.

“Resolution 2231 of the UN Security Council does not contain a prohibition on the Islamic Republic of Iran from carrying out such activities,” Ryabkov told Interfax. “The resolution only and exclusively calls on Iran to refrain from missile launches… which would allow them the means to deliver a nuclear weapon. This call, as we all understand, does not logically correspond to a ban. It’s not the same thing, and trying to present this as a ban is a distortion of the truth.”

On Thursday, President Trump tweeted that Iran should be ‘grateful’ for JCPOA, which he referred to as “the worst deal ever negotiated” during his campaign.</s>BERLIN: Iran tested a cruise missile called "Sumar" that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons in addition to test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday, German newspaper Die Welt reported Thursday, citing unspecified intelligence sources.

No comment was immediately available from Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency or from Iranian authorities.

The newspaper said the Sumar cruise missile was built in Iran and travelled around 600 km in its first known successful test. The missile is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons and may have a range of 2,000 to 3,000 km, the paper said, citing intelligence sources.

Cruise missiles are harder to counter than ballistic missiles since they fly at lower altitudes and can evade enemy radar, confounding missile defence missiles and hitting targets deep inside an opponent's territory.

But the biggest advantage from Iran's point of view, a security expert told Die Welt, was that cruise missiles are not mentioned in any United Nations resolutions that ban work on ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

News of Iran's reported cruise missile test came hours after the White House put Iran "on notice" for its ballistic missile test and signalled that it could impose new sanctions, taking an aggressive posture toward Tehran that could raise tensions in the region.

Iran confirmed on Wednesday that it had test-fired a new ballistic missile, but said the test did not breach the Islamic Republic's nuclear agreement with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact.</s>A top aide to Iran's supreme leader blamed the "inexperienced" Trump administration for apparent U.S. threats and vowed his country would continue testing ballistic missiles.

Ali Akbar Velayati, who advises Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on foreign affairs, said that Iran had not breached a nuclear deal reached with six major powers in 2015 or a U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the accord. The White House has accused Tehran of acting "in defiance" of a separate U.N. Security Council resolution on ballistic missiles, as opposed to the nuclear agreement.

"This is not the first time that an inexperienced person has threatened Iran," Velayati said. "Iran is the strongest power in the region and has a lot of political, economic and military power ... America should be careful about making empty threats to Iran."

He added: "Iran will continue to test its capabilities in ballistic missiles and Iran will not ask any country for permission in defending itself."

Velayati did not identify any U.S. official specifically.

On Wednesday, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the White House was putting Tehran "on notice," an apparent threat of retaliation for Sunday's ballistic missile test.

Flynn, a retired Army general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, delivered his remarks in a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing. He cited other examples of what he called Iran's "destabilizing behavior across the Middle East," including reported attacks on U.S. allies by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

National security officials told reporters later Wednesday that the administration was considering a range of options, including economic sanctions and supporting forces that counter Iranian action in the region.

Iran used to be prohibited from test-firing ballistic missiles under previous U.N. resolutions. However, these were superseded by a new resolution passed alongside the nuclear deal.

This only "called upon" Iran not to test-fire missiles that could be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Critics of the deal say this wording is effectively a loophole meaning the missile-testing restrictions are not obligatory.

The government in Tehran says that because it doesn't have a nuclear-weapons program, its missile tests are not violations of this clause.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif didn't confirm or deny the launch during a press conference Tuesday but said, "The missiles aren't part of the nuclear accords," Reuters reported. "Iran will never use missiles produced in Iran to attack any other country."

The United States deemed the launch to be a failure, after the missile flew more than 500 miles before crashing, according to two officials who spoke to NBC News on Monday on condition of anonymity.

However, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan told the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Thursday that the missile test was "successful" but also insisted it "was not a violation of a nuclear deal with world powers or any U.N. resolution."</s>Columbia: President Donald Trump on Thursday said Iran was now formally "on notice" after a recent missile test, while also claiming the Islamic Republic was on the brink of collapse when it signed an international nuclear deal.

"Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.

Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!" Trump tweeted, echoing similar comments by National Security Advisor Michael Flynn the day before.

But there has been scant detail from the White House as to what the warning actually means in practical terms. It remains to be seen if the White House will push for sanctions this time around.

Flynn insisted that Sunday's missile test was "in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231," which calls on Iran not to test missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapon.

Iran's ballistic missile program has been a bone of contention with the West since the nuclear deal took effect in January last year.

 A previous, while controversial, test was not found to be in breach of the UN guidelines.

A senior Trump administration official said that it was clear the missile was capable of carrying a nuclear payload, while a second official said it was not considered a breach of the nuclear deal.

Both Trump and Flynn have been harsh critics of Tehran and vocal opponents of the nuclear deal with world powers that saw Iran curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

"Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion," Trump said in a second pre-dawn tweet.

He was referring to an estimate of the value of sanctions relief that Iran obtained from the White House -- then under president Barack Obama -- in exchange for signing the deal.</s>Flynn called the launch the latest in a series of provocative moves by Iran that have included backing Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have attacked US allies.

"As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice," Flynn said from the White House briefing room.

Flynn did not say whether the US would take action beyond a verbal warning, and three senior administration officials, speaking on background, said Wednesday that they are still in the early stages of determining what action the US should take in response.

"We are considering a whole range of options. We're in a deliberative process," one of the officials said.

Those options include financial measures and economic sanctions, and the officials said the administration would not take any options off the table, including a military response. They also stressed that a violation of the UN Security Council Resolution on Iranian ballistic missile activity would not impact the Iran nuclear deal.

One of the officials said Flynn's warning on Wednesday delivered from the White House -- one that might typically be issued by diplomats -- was intended to reflect "the level of importance that this administration believes this issue warrants."

Iran's Foreign Ministry insisted Tuesday that Sunday's missile test was "solely for defensive purposes," and not a violation of the UN Security Council resolution which bars Iran from testing "ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons."

President Barack Obama's administration one year ago enacted financial sanctions on 11 people and companies involved in Iran's ballistic missile program after the country conducted two test launches of ballistic missiles.

That came after the UN determined in late 2015 that those launches were in violation of the Security Council resolution. The UN Security Council Resolution is not part of the Iran nuclear deal, but a separate security council measure.

Flynn did not signal whether the US would take any concrete actions -- military or diplomatic -- to counter what he described as "provocative" Iranian actions, but he did criticize the Obama administration for having "failed to respond adequately to Iran's maligned actions."

Flynn added that Iran's actions threaten stability in the region and place American lives at risk, and said Iran was "on notice."

"The Trump administration condemns such actions by Iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the Middle East and place American lives at risk," he said.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer added Wednesday that the US won't "sit by and not act on those actions."

Flynn's warning comes as forces from the US, British, French and Australian navies engage in exercises in the Persian Gulf.

A total of 17 warships from the four nations are participating in the exercises, named Unified Trident, led by the UK's amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean, according to a US Navy press release.

The drills are designed to "ensure the free flow of commerce" through waterways of strategic interest to the entire world, the US Navy release said.

The commander of Iran's navy, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, warned the four navies not enter Iran's territorial waters, according to a report from state-owned Press TV.

Iran's Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan referenced the new US administration in telling Iran's independent Mehr News Agency the allied exercise would not be successful.

"Under the situation created in the wake of the presidency of Donald Trump, Persian Gulf littoral states are somehow concerned about the future and the European countries are interested in cementing their presence in the region and giving some form of reassurance to their allies," Dehghan is quoted as saying.

"These drills will have no outcome for them," Dehghan said.

Tensions have been on edge around the Persian Gulf this year. In early January, the US guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan fired warning shots at Iranian boats near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf.

The five Iranian boats came "within 900 yards or so" of the Mahan, which was sailing with two other US ships, a Pentagon spokesman said at the time.

A US warship also fired warning shots at Iranian vessels in an incident last August.</s>Iran confirms it recently carried out a missile test within the framework of its defense program, saying the Islamic Republic does not allow any foreign intervention in affairs concerning its defensive prowess.

“The recent test has been in line with our [defense] program, and we do not let any foreigner intervene in our defense affairs,” Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said on Wednesday.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a government meeting in reaction to US calls on Tuesday for a UN Security Council (UNSC) emergency meeting on a missile launch by Iran.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Iran had “a medium-sized missile launch testing on January 29.”

Dehqan reaffirmed assertions made by several Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, that the test had not violated UNSC Resolution 2231.

The Resolution was adopted on July 20, 2015 to endorse a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Under the resolution, Iran is “called upon” not to undertake any activity related to missiles “designed to be capable of” delivering nuclear weapons. Iran says it is not involved in any such missile work and has no such warheads.

“The test is in no way in contravention of Resolution 2231,” Dehqan likewise said.

“We have always stated that we never abandon developing and reinforcing our defense foundation in line with our interests,” said the Iranian defense chief, adding that the Islamic Republic does not “require anyone’s permission” in this regard.

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On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi also defended the country’s missile tests as the “inalienable and absolute” right of the nation, saying the Islamic Republic would never seek permission from anyone to defend itself.

Elsewhere in his comments, the Iranian defense chief also addressed the issue of the military maneuvers underway in the Persian Gulf.

The US, the UK, France and Australia started a three-day joint naval exercise called Unified Trident in the region on Tuesday. The exercises reportedly simulate a potential confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

With the inauguration of the new US administration, the Persian Gulf states are worried about their future, and seek to strengthen their position in the region, Dehqan said.

“These [efforts], however, are of no avail. Countries which do not rely on their own people’s will cannot advance any goals.”
Iranian Minister of Defence Hossein Dehghan confirms Iran tested a new missile, claiming that the test did not violate the 2015 nuclear deal nor UN resolution 2231.