Pentagon: Iran's missile program is designed for lethal damage

Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's ballistic missile program, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said that the program is designed for offensive purposes and to attack with the intent to inflict lethal damage and injury.

John Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday, February 10, about the Islamic Republic's new announcement about a ballistic missile: "I can't say anything about it because I haven't been informed of the details yet. I haven't seen anything about the missile that Iran is talking about, and you get the news in the media faster than I do."

The Pentagon spokesman continued: "Frankly, we consider their malign activities to be beyond the message. It is these malign activities that destabilize the region, support terrorist groups throughout the region, disrupt shipping and navigation, and pursue a ballistic missile program designed for offensive and strike purposes to inflict lethal damage and harm on other nations, other people, our allies and partners."

"We don't take this as a message," said John Kirby. "This is a national security threat in the region to our people, our facilities, and also the people and facilities of our allies and partners."

In response to another question about the announcement of the Islamic Republic of Iran's new missile, without mentioning the details of the missile tested by Iran, Mr. Kirby said: "We have continuously seen Iran upgrade its ballistic missile program and we are acutely aware of the regional threat that that missile program poses. Therefore, we are working intensively with allies and partners in the region to counter these types of threats and to ensure that our allies have the ability to defend themselves."

Source: Voice of America