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          Iran: New Sanctions Will Not Limit Ballistic Missile Program

   by VOA News

   Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Monday new U.S. sanctions
   targeting the country's ballistic missile program will have no effect
   on missile development.

   The U.S. imposed the new measures Sunday against five Iranian nationals
   and a network of companies with links to banned missile activity, a
   move that followed the lifting of economic sanctions tied to Iran's
   nuclear program.

   Dehqan said the ballistic missile sanctions show the U.S. is "hostile"
   toward Iran and he pledged to unveil new missile developments soon.

   ''Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari called the
   new sanctions illegitimate.

   Iran drew condemnation from the United States and other Western powers
   for two ballistic missile tests late last year said to violate U.N.
   Security Council resolutions. Iran defended the tests as a matter of
   national security.

   'Vigorously' enforce sanctions

   President Barack Obama said his government will "vigorously" enforce
   sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program.

   "Iran's recent missile test, for example, was a violation of its
   international obligations and as a result the United States is imposing
   sanctions on individuals and companies working to advance Iran's
   ballistic missile program," Obama said. "And we are going to remain
   vigilant about it."

   The U.S. Treasury Department said the five Iranians worked to get
   missile components for Iran, as did the network of companies based In
   the United Arab Emirates and China that used third parties to try to
   deceive foreign suppliers and hide the identity of who would ultimately
   be using the materials.

   ''The announcement came a day after the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions
   related to Iran's nuclear program under an international deal reached
   in July, and hours after confirmation that five Americans held captive
   in Iran had been released.

   Nuclear deal

   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that Tehran would uphold
   its end of the nuclear deal as long as the "other side" does, according
   to state news agency IRNA.

   The agreement was reached in July 2015 after negotiations between Iran
   and the P5+1, which includes China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom,
   the United States and Germany.

   Speaking at a meeting with Yukiya Amano, the visiting head of the
   International Atomic Energy Agency, Rouhani added that Iran is
   committed to "not to seek weapons of mass destruction."
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   listic-missile-program/3152322.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iran-new-sanctions-will-not-limit-ballistic-missile-program/3152322.html