Zarif: Israel Tested Nuclear Missile Aimed at Iran

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said Friday that a test fire Israel conducted earlier in the day was of a nuclear missile, and that it was aimed at Iran.

“Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran,” Zarif tweeted.

In his tweet, Zarif added that the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom “never complain about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia—armed with missiles actually designed to be capable of carrying nukes—but has fits of apoplexy over our conventional & defensive ones.”

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– Zarif’s tweet.

Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran.

E3 & US never complain about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia—armed with missiles actually DESIGNED to be capable of carrying nukes—but has fits of apoplexy over our conventional & defensive ones. https://t.co/r4EqXkhcCN

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 6, 2019

Israel’s Defense Ministry said earlier Friday that it tested a rocket propulsion system, launched from a military base located in the center of the country. A statement said that the test launch was scheduled in advance and was carried out as planned, providing no further details.

The test, which took place in broad daylight, comes amid increasing tension between Israel and Iran and was intended to send a clear message. It tested the rocket propulsion systems that are supposed to provide upgraded capabilities to the defense establishment's missiles. According to foreign reports, Israel has long-range ground-to-ground Jericho missiles that can strike any point in the Middle East.  

France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres circulated Wednesday that Iran was developing "nuclear-capable ballistic missiles," which they say is in violation of a Securiy Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal.

The letter cites footage released on social media April 22, 2019, of a previously unseen flight test of a new Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile variant “equipped with a maneuverable re-entry vehicle.” It says: “The Shahab-3 booster used in the test is a Missile Technology Control Regime category-1 system and as such is technically capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.”