U.S. to raise Iran missile test at United Nations on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The United States plans to raise Iran's recent missile test in the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, U.N. diplomats said, after Washington declared that the launch had violated a U.N. ban on ballistic missile tests by Tehran.

Iran said this month it had tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, has said that the medium-range missile was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.

U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States planned to raise the issue during a meeting of the 15-member Security Council.

The United States is also preparing a report on the incident for the Security Council's Iran Sanctions Committee, Power said.

Council diplomats have told Reuters it was possible to sanction additional Iranian individuals or entities by adding them to an existing U.N. blacklist. However, they noted that Russia and China, which have opposed the sanctions on Iran's missile program, might block any such moves.

Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under a 2010 Security Council resolution which remains valid until a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers goes into effect.

Under that deal, reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

The deal allows for supply of ballistic missile technology to Tehran with Security Council approval, but the United States has pledged to veto any such requests. Those restrictions on ballistic missile technology will be in place for eight years.

The missile test is not a violation of the nuclear deal, U.S. officials have said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday conditionally approved the nuclear deal, but warned that the agreement would be violated if any of the six world powers imposed any sanctions on any level and under any pretext. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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