The new missile, Safir class, like the one Tehran last launched two years ago, that uses the same components as those necessary for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The satellite images showed a great amount of activity and many visitors on the launchpad the day the missile was first spotted, February 3.  On Tuesday, the missile was gone.

This may have been coincidence, maybe there was a technical problem. However, the timing is telling. 

In defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, Iran launched a new medium-range ballistic missile capable of reaching all of Europe on January 29.

The Trump administration put Iran “on notice” last Thursday. Then, on the day the new missile was first seen, last Friday, Washington sanctioned 25 individuals and companies involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program.

After eight years under President Barack Obama, this was a response unlike anything Tehran had expected. 

The days of former President Obama’s appeasements and negotiations are over, and now Iran knows it. Perhaps taking action, in the form of tough sanctions, really does work.