The US is reviewing and seeking to confirm reports that Iran launched a ballistic missile last month in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power says.
"The US is conducting a serious review of the reported incident," Power told reporters after a meeting on Tuesday of the Security Council on unrelated issues.
She added that if Washington confirmed the reports that Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile on November 21 in violation of UN resolutions, the US would bring the issue to the 15-nation council and seek appropriate action.
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A anonymous Western diplomatic source last week said that the test of a Ghadr-110, a spinoff of the Shahab-3 missile, was held near Chabahar, a port city near Iran's border with Pakistan. He said it was a liquid-fuelled missile with a 1900km range and was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
All ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under a 2010 Security Council resolution that remains valid until a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers is implemented.
Under that deal, reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. According to a July 20 resolution endorsing that deal, Iran is still "called upon" to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.
In October, the US, Britain and France called for the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee to take action over a test by Tehran of a nuclear-capable missile that month that they said violated UN sanctions.
No action has yet been taken by the committee, but Power said council members would be discussing the issue next week.
She said the US could take unilateral steps against Iran, though Tehran has warned that it would treat any new sanctions as a breach of the nuclear deal.
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