Hassan Rouhani on Thursday ordered a speed-up in the production of -defense missiles while the US is prepared to lift old sanctions under the nuclear deal Washington Post reported.
In a letter to the Defense Ministry made public by Iran’s official News Agency, Rouhani said his order was a direct response to impending sanctions that the Obama administration has proposed to Congress.
The discord over new sanctions and missiles is coming at a time when Washington is preparing to lift old sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program, as agreed under a landmark accord reached in July. Tehran recently shipped 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium and materials to Russia, and it appears to be on track to fulfill the rest of its commitments before the end of the month.
It is unclear whether the latest tensions will derail the nuclear deal’s implementation, but the dispute illustrates how decades of distrust are unlikely to lessen anytime soon.
Tehran and Washington have been sparring over missiles for months. Although the issue was not specifically outlined in the nuclear agreement, a subsequent U.N. resolution includes an eight-year restriction on nuclear ballistic-missile activities and a five-year ban on conventional-arms transfers.
Since then, Iran has test-fired two ballistic missiles, in October and November.
Washington contends those actions violate the U.N. resolution.
 “As we’ve said, we’ve been looking for some time at options for additional actions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program based on our continued concerns about its activities, including the Oct. 10 launch,” a senior administration official said by email.