Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test, satellite photos show

Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Thursday, underlining Tehran’s effort to maintain its weapons program despite the 12-day war with Israel in June

Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Thursday, underlining Tehran’s effort to maintain its weapons program despite the 12-day war with Israel in June.

Iran has not formally acknowledged the test last week, carried out at a circular pad that has hosted other major launches by the country’s civilian space program. A single lawmaker in Iran’s parliament, however, claimed, without offering evidence, that Tehran tested a possible intercontinental ballistic missile.

The test and the claim raise concerns that Iran may be trying to expanding the reach of its missiles as tensions remain high ahead of United Nations sanctions, which are likely to be reimposed this weekend over Tehran’s nuclear program — as it also repairs missile sites that were struck by the Israelis.

“Israel’s successes in the 12-day war against Iran’s missile attacks reinforced for Tehran the importance of developing more ballistic missiles and qualitatively better versions of them,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an analyst at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The think tank has long been critical of Iran and has been sanctioned by Tehran.

“Consider this part of Tehran’s efforts to build back better, and as quickly as possible,” he added.