U.S. Reaction to Islamic Republic's Missile Test: No Impact on U.S. Regional Decisions

The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Matthew Miller, stated in a press conference on Tuesday, February 13, that the ballistic missile test launch by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the actions of the Islamic Republic's proxy groups have no effect on U.S. regional decisions. In response to a question from Voice of America, he said that if the Iranian government's intention behind the ballistic missile test was to pressure the U.S. to end the Israel-Hamas war, they should know that these actions will have no impact on U.S. decision-making. He added that the Biden administration wants the conflict between Israel and Hamas to end as soon as possible to improve the difficult situation of Palestinian civilians. The U.S. State Department spokesperson described the Islamic Republic's proxy groups, including Hamas, as a source of instability in the region and stated that the U.S. seeks to establish stability, prevent further conflicts in the future, and ultimately achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. Concurrently, as the Islamic Republic continues to support proxy groups in the region and backs their destabilizing actions, the IRGC announced on Tuesday that it had launched long-range ballistic missiles from a vessel in the Sea of Oman for the first time. According to AFP, the missile launch from the 'Shahid Mahdavi' ocean-going vessel occurred during a naval exercise and involved the firing of two ballistic missiles. It is claimed that these missiles can strike targets up to 1,700 kilometers away. Iranian state television reported that the IRGC had fired ballistic missiles in the Sea of Oman for the first time. IRGC commander Hossein Salami claimed that the long-range ballistic missile launch from the warship was successful. The U.S. State Department spokesperson also did not explicitly comment on the renewed concerns expressed by Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities, but stated that U.S. policy has not changed and will not change, which is to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. Grossi had stated on Monday in Dubai that the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is not transparent.