Iran is continuing to develop missiles capable of delivering a nuclear bomb in defiance of an interim agreement with the West, a Pentagon report has revealed.
The unclassified document which a copy was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon was not sent to the US Armed Services Committee until this month to avoid upsetting Tehran during its nuclear negotiations with the West.
The report states: “Although Iran has paused progress in some areas of its nuclear program and fulfilled its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), it continues to develop technological capabilities that also could be applicable to nuclear weapons, including ballistic missile development.”
It added: “Iran continues to develop its capabilities to control the Strait of Hormuz and avenues of approach in the event of a military conflict.
“Tehran is quietly fielding increasingly lethal weapon systems, including more advanced naval mines, small but capable submarines, armed unmanned aerial vehicles, coastal defense cruise missile batteries, attack craft, and ant ship-capable missiles.”
It also said Tehran had not halted its support for terrorism, adding: “Iran’s covert activities appear to be continuing unabated. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) remains a key tool of lran’s foreign policy and power projection, particularly in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen.”
The IRGC Quds Force also is continuing to improve its access within foreign countries and its ability to carry terrorist attacks ‘to safeguard or advance Iran’s interests’, the report said.
It continued: “The ongoing civil war in Syria and the instability in Iraq have tested, but not fundamentally altered, this posture.
“Meanwhile, over the past year, the tone of publicity surrounding major military exercises has remained tempered, a trend that began in 2013, probably in support of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear activities.”
The report, dated January 2015, concludes that Iran has not substantively altered its military and security strategies in the past year.
It added: “However, Tehran has adjusted its approach to achieve its enduring objectives, by increasing its diplomatic outreach and decreasing its bellicose rhetoric.
“The committee remains concerned about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programs.
“In 2013, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) made the following statement about this system: Iran could develop and test an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015.”
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