![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2006\/11\/condoleezza-rice-2.jpg\" "\\"condoleezza-rice-2\\"")
Agence France Presse – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chided Iran for trying to act "tough" after it fired a new long-range missile for the first time on Thursday, but warned Tehran would "suffer greatly" if it used the weapon in anger. <\/p>\n
Iranian forces launched the Shahab-3 ballistic missile as they began 10 days of war games that coincide with US-led efforts to impose UN-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. "I think they’re trying to demonstrate that they’re tough," Rice said of the missile test. <\/p>\n
"But the Iranians also I think are not unaware that the security environment is one in which if they actually were to do something, Iran would suffer greatly and so I think they probably understand that," she said in a radio interview. <\/p>\n
Referring to Iran’s refusal to comply with a UN Security Council resolution demanding it abandon suspect nuclear activities, Rice said: "I think the Iranians are a threat and that’s why the international community’s got to be strong in resisting their ambitions." <\/p>\n
She said Thursday’s missile test was Iran’s way of telling the world "you’re not going to keep us from getting a nuclear weapon".
"The world has to say to them, yes, we will," she said. <\/p>\n
Rice was speaking amid ongoing negotiations between the US and its big power partners over a package of sanctions designed to force Iran to give up its uranium enrichment program. <\/p>\n
Iran insists the program is aimed at providing fuel for nuclear power plants while Washington and others suspect the ultimate aim is to develop atomic weapons. <\/p>\n
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Agence France Presse – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chided Iran for trying to act “tough” after it fired a new long-range missile for the first time on Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-terrorism-a-fundamentalism"],"yoast_head":"\n