Tuesday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on global threats, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Iran’s recent launching of ballistic missiles in violation of existing U.N. resolution was a “deliberate message of defiance and that the Iranians are going to continue with an aggressive program to develop their missile force.”
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) asked, “What do you make of the fact the Iranians did in fact post- JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] in violation of existing U.N. resolutions make two launches of ballistic missiles. I think you were asked about the sanctions put in place, let’s be clear those sanctions weren’t very tough. Do you think those are going to deter Iran from developing its ICBM program?”
Clapper said, “The Iranians have conducted some 140 launches since the original U.N. Security Council resolution in 1929 that was imposed in 2010. And so 70 of those — about half of them were done during the negotiations — given the fact that the missiles were a part of the negotiation. As far as these two launches are concerned, I think this was a deliberate message of defiance and that the Iranians are going to continue with an aggressive program to develop their missile force.”
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