Iran claimed that this week it had tested ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in Israel.

Iranian news agencies reported that the two Qadr missiles launched on Wednesday from a location in northern Iran carried the Hebrew inscription "Israel should be wiped off the pages of history" and hit targets 1,400 km away.

The test-launches were overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was quoted saying: "We designed our missiles with a range of 2,000km to hit our enemy, the Zionist regime, from a safe distance."

The launch followed similar tests carried out earlier in the week and drew criticism from the US administration, which claimed Iran could have contravened UN resolutions against the country developing ballistic missiles.

Vice President Joe Biden, who was visiting Israel this week, said: "I want to reiterate... if they break the [nuclear] deal, we will act." However, he stopped short of saying that the Iranians had broken any deal or resolution and did not mention new sanctions.

Israel's Defence Minister, Moshe Yaalon, said the missile tests were proof that Iran was as hostile as ever towards Israel and accused some in the West of being "misled by the honeyed words of part of the Iranian leadership while the other part continues to arm terrorists".

Some analysts, however, believe that the tests were carried out more for domestic consumption and were a response from the IRGC and other hardline elements in Tehran to the efforts of President Hassan Rohani to improve ties with the West.

For now, the missile launches do not seem to be dampening the eagerness of Western governments and corporations to open up the Iranian market. This week, Business Secretary Sajid Javid announced he was planning Britain's biggest-ever trade mission to Iran.

One deal with Iran that is not going as smoothly, however, is Russia's long-delayed sale of the S-300 advanced air-defence system, which was scheduled to take place in late 2015.

However, the supply of the S-300 has been delayed again. Reports in the Arab and Russian media claimed that this was due to an Israeli tip-off to Moscow that Iran had breached a previous agreement with Russia by supplying advanced missiles to its Lebanese proxy, Hizbollah.