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Israel, US Successfully Test 'Arrow 2' Missile Defense System

Israel is developing a multi-layered anti-ballistic missile system to protect themselves from rockets fired from neighboring countries. Above, Arrow 3 missle launched by the Israeli Defence Ministry in 2015. (AFP)
Israel is developing a multi-layered anti-ballistic missile system to protect themselves from rockets fired from neighboring countries. Above, Arrow 3 missle launched by the Israeli Defence Ministry in 2015. (AFP)
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Israel, US Successfully Test 'Arrow 2' Missile Defense System

Israel is developing a multi-layered anti-ballistic missile system to protect themselves from rockets fired from neighboring countries. Above, Arrow 3 missle launched by the Israeli Defence Ministry in 2015. (AFP)
Israel is developing a multi-layered anti-ballistic missile system to protect themselves from rockets fired from neighboring countries. Above, Arrow 3 missle launched by the Israeli Defence Ministry in 2015. (AFP)

Israel said Thursday it conducted a successful test of the country’s advanced missile defense system against long-range ballistic attacks.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the successful flight test of the Arrow-2 interceptor was part of a technological effort that "ensures that we will always be one step ahead of our enemies.”

The test was conducted overnight jointly with the US Missile Defense Agency.

Arrow-2 is part of the multi-layered system Israel has developed to defend against both short- and mid-range rockets fired from Gaza and Lebanon, as well as Iran’s long-range missiles, The Associated Press reported.

It includes Iron Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow-3 system — capable of defending against threats from outside the atmosphere.

Israel and the US jointly tested Arrow-3 successfully last year in Alaska. The system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and US aviation giant Boeing and became operational in January 2017.

The Arrow-2 has been in use even longer and has been deployed in recent years to counter Syrian missiles.

The Arrow rocket system is designed to intercept the longest-range missiles, including outside the atmosphere.

Moshe Patel, who heads the Defense Ministry's missile defense organization, said Iran was the most natural threat but that Arrow could also cope with attacks from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

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Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.