The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has subsequently withdrawn. That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. France said it was concerned by the test-firing describing it as “provocative and destabilizing” adding that it “does not conform” to the UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal. But Iran insists that its missile program is defensive in nature and with no view toward the deployment of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council.