Iran urges West to end 'absurdities' on missiles

"US & allies should cease their hypocritical absurdities abt Iran's missiles," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.

"Facts speak for themselves. It's they who sell $100s of billions in arms to butcher Yemenis," he added, referring to the devastating Saudi-led war backed by the West against Yemen rebels.

Beneath the text, Zarif published a graphic detailing arms exports to Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2017 using figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The US accounted for 61 percent of those arms sales to Riyadh, Britain made up 23 percent of sales, and deals from France accounted for four percent, according to the chart.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to take punitive action against Iran to limit its ballistic missile programme, which Washington says poses a threat to the region and beyond.

A day earlier, Iran confirmed it had carried out a missile test and reiterated its intention to keep up ballistic activities despite Western condemnation.

Paris and London said Tehran's test was "provocative" but called for dialogue with Iran rather than sanctions as demanded by the US.

Iran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers, which the US walked away from in May, but has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231 adopted after the agreement calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile launches.

Tehran says it has no intention of acquiring atomic weapons and that its missile development programmes are purely defensive and comply with the resolution.