Iran denounces new US sanctions on missile programme
Tehran (AFP) - Iran denounced new US sanctions on its missile programme on Monday but pushed ahead with international cooperation after its historic nuclear deal.
Washington announced the new sanctions on Sunday, the day after the UN atomic watchdog confirmed that Iran had complied with the measures imposed by the deal with global powers reached in Vienna in July.
World leaders hailed the implementation of the deal, and the subsequent lifting of European and US sanctions, as a milestone in international diplomacy.
But in a sign that tensions persist, the US Treasury announced it was imposing sanctions on five Iranian nationals and a network of companies based in the United Arab Emirates and China in connection with Iran's ballistic missile programme.
Iran's foreign ministry on Monday decried the new measures as "illegitimate", with spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari insisting the missile programme has no links with the nuclear issue.
"Iran's missile programme has never been designed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons," Ansari was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
He said Iran would respond by "accelerating its legal ballistic missile programme and boosting defence capabilities"....
Iran denounces new US sanctions on missile programme
