Iran tests missile and radar systems, defying U.S. sanctions

Iran is holding a military exerciseon Saturday to test its missile and radar systems, a day afterU.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctionson Tehran for a recent ballistic missile test.

The United States sanctioned 13 individuals and 12 entitiesrelated to Iran's missile programand Trump's nationalsecurity adviser Michael Flynn said the United States wasputting Iran on notice over its "destabilising activity."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards website said the aim ofthe military exercise in Semnan province was to "showcase thepower of Iran's revolution and to dismiss the sanctions."

Iranian state news agencies reported that home-made missilesystems, radars, command and control centres, and cyber warfaresystems would be tested in the drill.

Although tensions between Washington and Iran have risen, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday he was notconsidering raising the number of U.S. forces in the Middle Eastto address Iran's "misbehaviour" at this time, but warned the world would not ignore Iranian activities.

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Iran has one of the Middle East's largest missile programs and held a similar exercise in December to showcase itsdefence systems, including radars, anti-missile defence units,and short and medium-range missiles.

Tehran confirmed on Wednesday that it had test-fired a newballistic missile, but said the test did not breach the IslamicRepublic's nuclear agreement with world powers or a UNSecurity Council resolution endorsing the pact.

Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since thenuclear deal in 2015, but the latest test was the first sinceTrump entered the White House. Trump said during his electioncampaign that he would stop Iran's missile program.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergencymeeting on Tuesday and recommended the missile testing bestudied at committee level. The new U.S. ambassador to theUnited Nations, Nikki Haley, called the test "unacceptable."

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The Security Council resolution was adopted to buttress thedeal under which Iran curbed its nuclear activities to allayconcerns they could be used to develop atomic bombs, in exchangefor relief from economic sanctions.

The resolution urged Tehran to refrain from work onballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Criticssay the resolution's language does not make this obligatory.

Tehran says it has not carried out any work on missilesspecifically designed to carry nuclear payloads.