North Korea’s missiles are capable of hitting targets across most of the United States, American intelligence officials claim, citing evidence from Pyongyang’s latest missile test. North Korea test-launched a Hwasong-14 ballistic missile on Saturday, calling it a “stern warning” to the US that it would not be safe if it resorts to military action.

The consensus in Washington is that the Hwasong-14 in many ways resembled an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and proved the North’s ability to hit targets on American soil, Reuters reported Monday, citing two US intelligence officials.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said the missile’s 47-minute flight time was indicative of a greater range compared to another missile that was tested on July 4^th, which flew 39 minutes.

The Hwasong-14 also made use of force stabilizing engines that gave it greater height, range and power by deflecting the effects of winds and other forces that could knock it off course while ascending. The Pentagon says the missile’s trajectory, although not direct enough to reach the US, showed that it had the potential.

In a press briefing, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis refused to reveal the US military’s assessment but confirmed that the missile could fly at least 5,500 km (3,420 miles), the minimum range for what the Pentagon classifies as an ICBM.

“You could have the debate back and forth of whether the capability is proven or not, the fact of the matter is we take it seriously and we are prepared to defend against (it),” he noted. Last month, the United Nations Security Council imposed a fresh array of sanctions on Pyongyang in response to a number of missile tests carried out this year.

Source: Presstv

The United States is fuming over Iran’s successful test of a satellite-launch rocket, saying it appeared to be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. “We consider that to be continued ballistic missile development,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday. “We consider this to be provocative action.”

On Thursday, Iran launched its domestically-manufactured Simorgh carrier, whose mission is to put Iranian satellites into the orbit. According to Tasnim News Agency, the launch was carried out from the Imam Khomeini Space Center. Simorgh, named after a bird in Iranian mythology, is capable of placing a satellite weighing up to 250 kilograms in an orbit of 500 kilometers.

The State Department spokeswoman suggested that the launch could be a “violation of UN Security Council resolutions.” Simorgh rocket is launched and tested at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre, Iran, in this handout photo released by Tasnim News Agency on July 27, 2017. The United States claims that Iran’s missile tests and rocket launches violate UN Resolution 2231, which was adopted in July 2015 to endorse the nuclear agreement.

Resolution 2231 calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” Tehran insists its missile tests and rocket launches do not breach any UN resolution because they are solely for defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Since his inauguration on January 20, US President Donald Trump has adopted a hostile policy towards Iran. He has repeatedly vowed to cancel the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, including the US, and his administration has imposed new sanctions on multiple Iranian individuals and entities.

Source: Presstv

Russian President Vladimir Putin has deplored a new round of US sanctions on his country, saying Moscow will definitively respond to the embargos if they are implemented.

“It’s impossible to endlessly tolerate this kind of insolence towards our country,” Putin said on Thursday, referring to a recent vote in the US House of Representatives, where lawmakers endorsed an anti-Russia sanctions bill.

Putin, who was speaking at a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Savonlinna, said Russia’s patience with the US was waning as Washington was continuing to impose back-to-back sanctions on Moscow.

He said Moscow would definitively respond to the new US measures, adding that the size and scale of a possible response would depend on how Washington would decide to go on with the sanctions, which should be ratified in the Senate and signed by US President Donald Trump before it becomes law.
“We are behaving in a very restrained and patient way, but at some moment we will need to respond,” Putin said, adding, “When the response will be and what it will be — that we will see.”

Russia has been under a series of US sanctions since a crisis began in Ukraine in 2014. The new measures, however, come after Russia was accused of interfering in the US presidential election last year. Moscow denies any involvement in both cases. Officials in Moscow say new US bans on Russia would harm the interests of both nations.

In his remarks, Putin said investigations into alleged collusion between Russian officials and Trump’s campaign aides in last year’s elections were a sign of “a rise in anti-Russian hysteria” in the US. He called the case all but a “battle between President Trump and his political opponents,” adding that “Russian-US relations are being sacrificed to resolve questions of domestic politics.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin said warmer ties between Washington and Moscow would help the two sides achieve better results in the “fight with terrorism,” adding that if the two act in agreement, they “could solve very acute problems much more effectively.”

Source: Presstv