Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that Iran should continue to develop its missile capabilities despite opposition from western countries. "Although some excuses recently raised by a number of Western countries about Iran's missile [tests] are flimsy and legally worthless, they are indicative of their long-term policy which [shows] that they do not want the Islamic Republic to be powerful enough to ensure regional security," he said according to Tasnim News on Saturday. "For this reason," he added, "we should insist on strengthening the country's defense capability, especially in the field of missiles." He also claimed that Western efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran outside of its nuclear program "indicates the necessity for being vigilant, watchful, and cautious in the face of their measures." Iran reached a nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers last July which saw economic sanctions leveled against it removed in January. However the US has imposed fresh sanctions on individuals and entities with ties to Iran's missile program and its development. The US, France, United Kingdom and Germany wrote a joint letter to the UN Security Council calling for actions to be taken against Tehran for these missiles. Tests of nuclear-capable missiles are banned under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed during the nuclear deal. However Iran has used the ambiguous language of that resolution to claim that its missiles are purely conventional, not nuclear-capable and are only being built for the country's defense.
