Iranian Ballistic Missile Test is a 'Gift for Anti-Iranian Propaganda'

While Iran did not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with its recent test of a ballistic missile, it did provide United States President Donald Trump the imputes for further anti-Iranian propaganda, according to Vladimir Sazhin, senior research fellow at the Institute for Eastern Studies, at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

On Monday, media reported that Iran had tested a middle-range ballistic missile for the first time since Trump’s inauguration. According to the New York Times, the missile travelled about 600 miles, but then its re-entry vehicle reportedly exploded. It is unclear whether the detonation was accidental or deliberate.

"The JCPOA doesn’t say anything about missiles. As a result of long discussions, Tehran abandoned talks about the missile issue. A resolution by the UN Security Council read that the international community called on Iran to refrain from ballistic missile tests. But it’s just a proposal to refrain. So, I can’t say that Iran violated anything," Sazhin told RIA Novosti.

Iran and the six international mediators reached a historic agreement on on July 14, 2015 for the settlement of the Iranian nuclear affair. The JCPOA was adopted, the implementation of which removes the previously imposed economic and financial sanctions by the UN Security Council, the US and the European Union from Iran. The plan came into effect on January 16.

"Of course, Iran shouldn’t act like that, but in legal terms there are no violations," the expert added.

At the same time, he suggested that the recent missile test will "definitely provoke anger" from the American side, especially taking into account Trump’s hardline stance towards the problem.

"The test is a good gift for Trump for further actions against Iran," he said.

Sazhin suggested that the test will not be used as a pretext for new sanctions against Tehran, but will used in anti-Iranian propaganda campaigns.

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