U.S. ambassador to U.N. says Iran missile test is unacceptable

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, warned Iran that its testing two days ago of a long-range ballistic missile is unacceptable and an act the United States believes violates its nuclear accord with world powers. "I will tell the people across the world that is something you should be alarmed about," Haley told reporters after the Security Council's consultations on Iran. "The United States is not naïve. We are not going to stand by. You will see us call them out as we said we would and you are also going to see us act accordingly." Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif neither confirmed or denied the launching of the missile. Iran said on Tuesday it would never use its ballistic missiles to attack another country and defended its missile tests, saying they are neither part of a nuclear accord with world powers nor a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact. The Security Council recommended the matter of the reported missile testing be studied on a committee level, according to British U.N. ambassador Matthew Rycroft. "On Iran, there was very significant concern about the ballistic missile launch which has now been confirmed," Rycroft said. A U.S. official said on Monday that Iran had test-launched on Sunday a medium-range ballistic missile that exploded after 630 miles (1,010 km). In July 2015, Iran and six world powers reached a deal under which it curbed its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions. (Reporting by Ned Parker; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)