JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on world powers to punish
Iran after the country test-fired two ballistic missiles emblazoned with
the phrase "Israel must be wiped out" in Hebrew.
Netanyahu
said he instructed Israel's Foreign Ministry to direct the demand to
the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — the
countries that signed the deal lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for
Tehran curbing its nuclear program.
Iran's
Revolutionary Guard test-launched the ballistic missiles last week, the
latest in a series of recent tests aimed at demonstrating Iran's
intentions to push ahead with its missile program after scaling back its
nuclear program under the deal reached last year.
Following
last week's missile launches, United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon called on Iran to "act with moderation," and the U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations said the launches were "provocative and
destabilizing."
Iran's Foreign
Ministry said the missile tests do not violate Iran's nuclear deal with
world powers or U.N. Security Council resolutions. A Security Council
resolution last year removing sanctions called on Iran not to undertake
any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to deliver a nuclear
weapon.
The Israeli leader
said world powers had pledged to prevent Iran from such violations.
Speaking ahead of his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his demand
for punitive action against Iran was "important as a test of the major
powers' determination to enforce the nuclear agreement with Iran and, of
course, we expect their answers."
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