Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles, one of them with the phrase "Israel should be wiped off the Earth" written on it in Hebrew, Iranian news media reported Wednesday.

The country’s semiofficial Fars news agency said the missiles were fired at a target 870 miles away.

It came the day after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it test-fired several ballistic missiles as part of a military exercise.

The official IRNA news agency said the aim was to show the Islamic Republic’s “deterrent power” and “all-out readiness to counter any threat.”

Vice President Biden, speaking Wednesday at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, said if Iran breaks the terms of last year's nuclear deal it reached with world powers, "we will act.”

“A nuclear-armed Iran is an absolutely unacceptable threat to Israel, to the region and the United States. If in fact they break the deal, we will act,” he said.

Biden also criticized Palestinians for their “failure to condemn” stabbing attacks that claimed the life of an American Vanderbilt University graduate student and wounded others in Israel on Tuesday.

Israel didn't immediately comment on the reports of the missile tests. The U.S implemented sanctions against 11 people and companies involved in Iran's ballistic missile program on Jan. 17.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Washington would review the reported tests and raise them in the U.N. Security Council to seek an "appropriate response" if they are confirmed, Reuters reported.

"We also continue to aggressively apply our unilateral tools to counter threats from Iran's missile program," he added.

American dies in Israel stabbing attack





U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that the U.N. was looking into the reports. "It's important that Iran live up to its obligations under the (nuclear) deal," he said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard commander, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafa, said Tuesday, "The security of Iran is the security of the region, and we will do our utmost to ensure our country's security," Fars reported.

He added: "It is the enemies of the Islamic Revolution and regional security that should be afraid of the (Iran Revolutionary Guard) missiles."

Many international economic sanctions on Iran were lifted Jan. 16 after a landmark deal with the United States and five other world powers in July to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions.

The U.S implemented the sanctions related to the missile program the following day.

State TV: Iran flew drone over U.S. aircraft carrier