an currently has no missiles capable of striking Europe and the U.S., Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“It is evident that Iran currently poses no threat to the U.S. and European countries… At the moment, Iran has no missiles capable of striking Europe, let alone the U.S., and is unlikely to develop [such missiles] in the foreseeable future,” Lavrov said.

Romania and Bulgaria are in talks with the U.S. to host elements of U.S. missile defense system on its soil, which the U.S. says are designed as protection against “current and emerging ballistic missile threats from Iran.”

The planned deployment of U.S. interceptor missiles in the Black Sea region has triggered fierce criticism from Moscow.

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North Korea warns that its armed forces will “mercilessly punish” the US and its allies if any punishment is imposed on the country.

The North state-run television announced on Saturday that any attempt to enforce sanctions or pressure against Pyongyang would be seen as a “declaration of war”.

“The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK are always keeping themselves fully ready to go into action any moment to mercilessly punish anyone who encroaches upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK even a bit,” says a North Korean statement on the matter.

Earlier On Monday, the United States persuaded the UN Security Council to condemn the North for launching a long-range rocket carrying a satellite.

According to the resolution, the April 5 launch violated a UN resolution that bans the country from ballistic activity.

The US, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea accuse the North of using the rocket launch as a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test — something North Korea denies.

Pyongyang says the recent launch was within the provisions of international space exploration treaties and has threatened to resume its halted nuclear program in the event of more UN sanctions.

Press TV.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with Japan, have agreed a draft statement condemning North Korea’s launch of a rocket earlier this week and calling for sanctions on the state.

The draft circulated to the non-permanent members of the council on Saturday says the launch contravened a council resolution banning ballistic missile and nuclear tests.

“The Security Council condemns the 5 April 2009 launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718,” the US-drafted statement said.

“The Security Council demands that the DPRK not conduct any further launch”.

Resolution 1718 was passed shortly after North Korea carried out a test of a nuclear bomb in October 2006 and forbids North Korea from launching ballistic missiles or carrying out further nuclear tests.

Read the full article on Aljazeera.

Further reading:

UN draft demands enforcement of N.Korea sanctions

UN Security Council Condemns North Korea’s Missile Launch

UN draft statement calls for N Korea sanction enforcement

The US has deployed two warships with anti-missile capabilities in the waters off Japan as tensions mount over North Korea’s plans to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile capable of striking Alaska.

The deployment comes as America, Japan and South Korea threaten North Korea with ’serious consequences’ if it proceeds with plans to conduct the missile test in defiance of a 2006 UN resolution.

North Korea, which has informed international agencies of its plan to fire the missile between April 4 and 8, says the launch is a “satellite test” which it is entitled to make under international law.

Recent satellite imagery has shown that the North Korea has now assembled two stages of the three-stage Taepodong-2 missile on a launch pad in the country’s northeast. Experts estimate that missile could be ready to fire within four days.

Japan has threatened to shoot down the missile if it crosses over Japanese territory, a move which Pyongyang has already said it would consider an “act of war”.

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has warned any launch would threaten to end the six-party talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. The talks have been stalled since December in a dispute over how to verify its disarmament.

“This provocative action, in violation of the United Nations mandate, will not go unnoticed and there will be consequences,” she said while on a visit to Mexico, warning that the US would put the issue before the UN Security Council for additional sanctions.

Full story here.