Hillary Clinton
Hillary ClintonReuters

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday urged new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile testing program.

"Iran is still violating UN Security Council resolutions with its ballistic missile program, which should be met with new sanctions designations and firm resolve," Clinton said in a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency.

She said if she were elected president in November, her approach to Iran would be "to distrust and verify."

On October 10, Iran conducted ballistic missile test which elicited strong condemnation from members of the UN Security Council. A month later, it tested another ballistic missile, and an American official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that.

A team of UN sanctions monitors confirmed in a recent report that a medium-range Emad rocket that Iran tested on October 10 was a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, making it a violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

Clinton’s comments came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran has fulfilled its initial obligations under the terms of the nuclear deal reached with world powers last July, paving the way for the first stage of sanctions relief.

The comments also came after a breakthrough prisoner swap with the United States saw four American citizens freed in return for the release of seven Iranians jailed in the United States.

"I am greatly relieved by the safe return of American prisoners from Iran," said Clinton.