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. 
 
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 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." 
 
 'Provocative' 
 
 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. 
 
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 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." 
 
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 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. 
 
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 "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. ||||| DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it had test-fired a new ballistic missile, prompting a tough response from a senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump. 
 
 National security adviser General Michael Flynn (R) delivers a statement next to Press Secretary Sean Spicer during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington U.S., February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 
 
 Iran’s defense minister 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, 
 
 Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015, but the latest test was the first since Trump entered the White House. Trump said during his election campaign that he would stop Iran’s missile program. 
 
 “The recent test was in line with our plans and we will not allow foreigners to interfere in our defense affairs,” Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan told Tasnim news agency. “The test did not violate the nuclear deal or (U.N.) Resolution 2231.” 
 
 Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, said the United States was putting Iran on notice over its “destabilizing activity” after it fired the missile. 
 
 “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,” Flynn said, without explaining exactly what that meant. 
 
 Flynn said the missile launch defied the U.N. resolution that called on Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. 
 
 A U.S. official said Iran had test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday and it exploded after traveling 630 miles (1,010 km). 
 
 The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Tuesday and recommended the missile testing be studied at committee level. The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, called the test “unacceptable”. 
 
 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Tehran would never use its ballistic missiles to attack another country. 
 
 Some 220 Iranian members of parliament reaffirmed support for Tehran’s missile program, calling international condemnation of the tests “illogical.” 
 
 “The Islamic Republic of Iran is against weapons of mass destruction, so its missile capability is the only available deterrence against enemy hostility,” the lawmakers said in a statement carried on state media on Wednesday. 
 
 The state news agency IRNA quoted Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s National Security Council, as saying Iran would not seek “permission from any country or international organization for development of our conventional defensive capability”. 
 
 The Security Council resolution was adopted to buttress the deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear activities to allay concerns they could be used to develop atomic bombs, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. 
 
 The resolution urged Tehran to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Critics say the resolution’s language does not make this obligatory. 
 
 Tehran says it has not carried out any work on missiles specifically designed to carry nuclear payloads. 
 
 The test on Sunday, according to U.S. officials, was of a type of missile that had also been tested seven months ago. 
 
 Iran has one of the Middle East’s largest missile programs but it has been dogged by a poor record for accuracy. 
 
 However, Hossein Salami, deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said on the day of the test that the country was now one of the few whose ballistic missiles were capable of hitting moving objects. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition (IOGPE) in Tehran April 15, 2011. REUTERS/STR/File Photo 
 
 This would enable Iran to hit enemy ships, drones or incoming ballistic missiles. 
 
 Some of Iran’s precision-guided missiles have the range to strike its regional enemy Israel. 
 
 On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Iran’s new missile test a “flagrant violation” of the U.N. resolution. He said he would ask Trump in their meeting in mid- February for a renewal of sanctions against Iran. ||||| Play Facebook 
 
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 Tension between the Trump administration and Iran continued to rise Wednesday when National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the White House was putting Tehran "on notice," an apparent threat of retaliation for a recent ballistic missile test. 
 
 Flynn said in a statement that the launch defied a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at keeping Iran from developing nuclear-armed missiles. 
 
 Related: Iran Test-Fires Medium Range Ballistic Missile: U.S. Officials 
 
 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. 
 
 He pointed out President Trump's disapproval of the Obama administration's agreements with Iran — including, presumably, a multinational deal to lift economic sanctions in exchange for a promise not to develop nuclear weapons — as "weak and ineffective." 
 
 Flynn suggested that the new administration would take a harder line. 
 
 "Instead of being thankful to the United States for these agreements, Iran is now feeling emboldened," Flynn said. "As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.” 
 
 What exactly that means is unclear. 
 
 Flynn did not take questions after delivering his warning. White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined to elaborate in an afternoon press briefing. 
 
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 National security officials told reporters later that the administration was considering a range of options, including economic sanctions and supporting forces that counter Iranian action in the region. 
 
 They stressed, however, that they saw the missiles and other destabilizing behavior by Iran as separate from the nuclear deal. They would not say whether Trump wants to pull out of the nuclear deal. 
 
 Flynn's message was aimed to get Iran's attention, the officials said. 
 
 Last week, Trump included Iran on a list of seven majority-Muslim countries whose citizens would be temporarily banned from entering the United States. 
 
 Agreement wasn't meant to make Iran "thankful to the US" - it was intended to peacefully rollback Iran's nuclear program, which it did. https://t.co/VAkfctg3Z7 — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) February 1, 2017 
 
 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." 
 
 Flynn's remarks Wednesday followed assertions Tuesday by Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, that the Trump administration would not "show a blind eye" to Iran's actions. 
 
 "We're gonna act, we're gonna be strong, we're gonna be loud and we're gonna do whatever it takes to protect the American people and the people across the world, because that's what the goal is supposed to be," she said. 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he planned to press Trump to renew sanctions against Iran and "take care of this failed nuclear agreement." 
 
 He added, "Iran's aggression must not go unanswered." 
 
 The National Iranian American Council called Flynn's statement "reckless," and said it risked retaliatory behavior. 
 
 "While Flynn’s remarks could be construed as simply bluster, they will beget an Iranian response which in turn will beget further threats by the U.S.," NIAC President Trita Parsi said in a statement. "At some point, this escalatory cycle that started with bluster may end in war."
– President Trump's national security adviser said the US is "officially putting Iran on notice," without specifying exactly what that means, Reuters reports. According to NBC News, Michael Flynn made the remark during a "surprise appearance" at a White House press briefing Wednesday. It was spurred by a recent Iranian missile test that Flynn characterized as "destabilizing activity." While Flynn didn't offer specifics on how the US may respond, three senior administration officials tell CNN they are "considering a whole range of options," including everything from economic sanctions to military action. Iran's defense minister says the test doesn't violate the nuclear agreement or a UN resolution. Iran has tested multiple missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015. It says they are "solely for defensive purposes" and not designed to carry nuclear warheads. Trump promised during the campaign to end Iran's missile program. The National Iranian American Council called Flynn's remarks "reckless" and said they may set the US on the path to war.