Iran has reportedly launched 23 ballistic missiles since signing the 2015 nuclear deal, a report obtained by Fox News reveals.

The report, written by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, claims that as many as 16 of these launches involved nuclear-capable missiles.

While the nuclear deal doesn't expressly ban Iran from continuing these tests, critics say continuing to launch missiles is in violation of the spirit of the program.

They say it paints a picture of Iran biding its time, perfecting their missiles so they'll be ready if they decide to restart their nuclear program again.

A report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, obtained by Fox News, shows Iran has fired 23 ballistic missiles since the start of the nuclear deal in 2015. Above in a missile launch in 2016

The 2015 Nuclear Deal, spearheaded by President Obama's administration, involved dropping sanctions against Iran in exchange for the country ending its nuclear program.

International investigators say that Iran has been following the rules of the deal, but President Trump is still unsatisfied with the current terms - calling it the 'worst deal ever negotiated'.

President Trump says he may pull out in May if Iran doesn't agree to stricter terms.

The European nations who agreed to the deal want it to keep going though, and are even meeting this week to discuss additions to the deal to keep the U.S. in.

It was also a hot-button issue that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan spoke about on Thursday, as he attended a conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking in the capital Abu Dhabi, Ryan said the Islamic Republic was seeking to expand its influence in the region at the expense of staunch U.S. allies like the UAE and Saudi Arabia and needed to be constrained by sanctions.

The United States and other major powers lifted broad sanctions on Iran after a landmark deal over its nuclear program in 2015, but Washington has since slapped Tehran with new sanctions over its long-range missile program.

Iran's ballistic missile program was something Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, right, spoke about during a conference in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday

Ryan said the European Union should follow suit, underscoring a 120-day ultimatum President Donald Trump gave the U.S. Congress as well as the European allies, Britain, France, Germany to come up with a tougher approach toward Iran or else see the President reimpose full sanctions.

'Look at their violations of missile testing, look at what they're doing in the region, look at what they're doing in Syria, look at what they're doing in Yemen,' Ryan said.

'There's more that we can do from the economic side. We have the tools we can use along with our allies ... that's the discussion we're having about tightening up sanctions and trying to get Europe involved in that,' he added.

Trump has warned that the U.S. will not continue to abide by the nuclear accord, which he has called 'the worst deal ever negotiated', and Britain, France and Germany have begun talks on a plan to satisfy him by addressing Iran's missile tests and its regional actions.

'I’d say there was a pretty wide measure of agreement on the European side about the need to look at what Iran is doing on the ballistic missile front and to work out what we can do collectively to constrain that activity and to make a big difference there,' United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday

Iran has one of the Middle East´s largest missile programs and some of its precision-guided missiles have the range to strike Israel. Tehran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive and not negotiable.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab countries accuse Iran of stoking wars and political crises around the region by supporting its Shi'ite co-religionists.

Tehran denies the charges and accuses Gulf Arab states of being pawns of Western powers seeking to dominate the region and advance the interests of its foe Israel.