Nebulous Language Enables Tehran’s Missile Ambitions

Posted: September 1st, 2017

By David Cooper

David A. Cooper has served as Chair of the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College since 2010 and holds a faculty appointment as The James V. Forrestal Professor of National Security Affairs. Dr. Cooper is a scholar-practitioner who served for almost two decades on the professional staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), where he held tenured career appointment in the Senior Executive Service (SES). His last SES assignment was in a 2-star equivalent position at the fledgling U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), where he established and led one of six joint directorates (J-9) that was responsible for partnership and strategic communication. Before that he served as the Pentagon's Principal Director for Homeland Security Integration, managing strategic planning and coordination of the Defense Department’s various homeland security missions.

Although the U.S. has stated that Iran remains in compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran continues to expand its ballistic missile capabilities and conduct missile tests, which the U.S. and its allies have argued violate the agreement. The Iranian government has asserted that these tests are aimed at boosting Iran’s offensive and defensive conventional capabilities, but the Trump Administration and other U.S. allies have rejected these claims as misleading. The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with David Cooper, professor and Chair of the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College about why Iran is enhancing its ballistic missile arsenal and if these tests do in fact violate the Iran nuclear agreement.

The Cipher Brief: What are Iran’s objectives in building up its ballistic missile capabilities?

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