Iran said in a letter to the United Nations today that it is determined to press ahead with its controversial ballistic missile program.
This came in a tweet published by Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif on Twitter included a copy of the letter.
"Iran is decisively determined to continue its activities related to ballistic missiles and launch vehicles into space," Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Majid Takhtrawanji, wrote in the letter.
In a speech on Wednesday, British, German and French ambassadors to the United Nations urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to inform the Security Council in his next report that Iran's missile program was "inconsistent" with a UN resolution that adopted the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the stand by European powers as a "desperate lie."
"The last three European countries' speech to the Security Council on missiles is a desperate lie to cover up their miserable inability to meet their minimum commitment under the JCPOA," he wrote on Twitter.
The European message emerged at a time of growing friction between Iran and the West as Tehran gradually backtracked from its obligations under the nuclear deal after Washington pulled out last year and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran.
A 2015 UN resolution calls on Iran to refrain from working for eight years on ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Some countries, including Russia, which along with four others have veto power in the Security Council, argue that the language of the resolution does not make it binding.
The United States and its Middle East allies see Iran's ballistic missile program as a threat to regional security.