Short-range test launches are not formally prohibited under United Nations sanctions against the North, which forbid medium and long-range ballistic activities.
VOA: standard.2009.10.13
Reinforcing existing defences against possible long-range Iranian missiles is seen as a problem for the future, given that America now says the Iranians are working more on short- and medium-range missiles than on long-range ones.
The performance of critical subsystems and other lessons learned during its tests -- even those that prove to be less than fully successful -- contribute significantly to the maturing of urgently systems that can defend against short-, medium- and long-range missiles.