Israel and the U.S. have successfully intercepted a series of medium to long-range ballistic missiles in a joint drill.
The missile test in southern Israel was conducted Tuesday by the Defense Ministry along with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Rafael, an Israeli defense technology company.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the tests, noting that Israel has earned a place "among global leaders" in the development of missile defenses.
The test follows a temporary U.S. troop deployment in Israel during the installment of an advanced American missile defense system earlier this month.
The countries' close military cooperation against the backdrop of tensions with Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah reflects their shared concerns about Iran's development of long-range missiles.
A senior U.S. arms control official said on Tuesday that Iran's missile program is destabilizing the Middle East and raising the risk of a "regional arms race" through the provision of such weapons to armed groups in Lebanon and Yemen.
When he quit a landmark 2015 deal that lifted international sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities, U.S. President Donald Trump said that it had failed to rein in Iran's missile program or curb its regional meddling.
The U.S. has accused Iran of defying a U.N. Security Council resolution by carrying out a ballistic missile test and two satellite launches since December.
"Iran's missile program is a key contributor to increased tensions and destabilization in the region, increasing the risk of a regional arms race," Yleem Poblete, assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, said in a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament.
"Iran must immediately cease activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and halt the proliferation of missiles and missile technology to terror groups and other nonstate actors," she said, denouncing Iran's support to the Houthi movement in Yemen and to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
She said Iran had provided ballistic missiles to the Houthis that were fired into Saudi Arabia and unmanned aerial systems to Houthi groups that enable strikes against land-based targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"We are committed to aggressively countering Iran's regional proliferation of ballistic missiles and its unlawful arms transfers," she added.
Poblete urged "all responsible countries" to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions restricting the transfer of missile-related technologies to Iran.
She further accused Iran of "pursuing pharmaceutical-based agents for offensive purposes," but did not elaborate.
An Iranian diplomat took the floor to reject her remarks as "cheap, unprofessional, false, irrelevant and pathetic" and accused the U.S of "sabotaging" the Geneva forum.
"We should all be truly worried about the U.S. representative's misbehavior as we all warn that they may turn violent since they lack any human logic to talk and listen in a normal manner as we are used to," he said.
