Clinton: Iran Should Be Sanctioned for Missile Tests

Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State and leading candidate in the Democratic Party's presidential nomination race, expressed concern on Wednesday, March 9, about the missile tests conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and called for new sanctions against Iran. Iranian state television showed footage of two "Qadr" missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers being launched, reportedly targeting locations 1,400 kilometers away. In this context, some Iranian news agencies released images showing Hebrew writing on the missiles that read: "Israel must be wiped off the map." According to Reuters, Hillary Clinton, who served as Secretary of State under Barack Obama, voiced her deep concern about the missile tests on the second day of the IRGC's missile exercises. Clinton emphasized, "Iran must be sanctioned for these missile tests, and the international community must show that it will not tolerate Iran's threats against Israel." Concurrently, the White House announced that it is reviewing reports regarding Iran's missile tests and will decide on an appropriate response. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, stated that given the maneuvers of Iranian forces, it would not be surprising to see reports of further missile tests in the coming days. While Iranian media reported on the continuation of missile tests by the IRGC, the U.S. State Department had warned on Tuesday after Iran's missile test that Washington would use necessary tools to counter Iran's missile threats. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department spokesman reported on Wednesday that John Kerry had a phone conversation with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, regarding the IRGC's missile tests. Reuters noted that the missile tests by the IRGC indicate a deepening rift between hardliners and Hassan Rouhani's government over normalizing relations with the international community. In this context, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, stated on Wednesday that they believe there is no need to launch missiles to eliminate Israel, as it will gradually collapse on its own. He added, "Our main enemy is the U.S., and we have accepted this enmity. For over four decades, brave men have tirelessly kept the enemies of the revolution awake from the threat of America and its allies." According to Tasnim, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force added that Iran does not initiate any wars, but the reason they designed 2,000-kilometer missiles is to target the farthest enemy, namely Israel. Meanwhile, Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's Defense Minister, stated that Iran's missile tests show that the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic has not changed this regime's hostile approach towards Israel. The Israeli Defense Minister added, "I regret to say that many in the West have been deceived by the sweet words of the Iranian government, while another part of this government is arming terrorist groups."