Iran’s Missile Program Non – Negotiable

Secretary of Expediency Council (EC) Mohsen Rezayee said Iran’s right for self-defense is not negotiable and will remain so as a red line forever.

In a post on his Instagram account Thursday, Rezayee said Iran’s missiles are for deterrence, adding that everybody should understand that Iran will never disarm.

 “On the missile issue, Americans are seeking to disarm Iran so there could be no dialog,” he added.

In relevant remarks, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier that Tehran would continue to enhance military capabilities to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday, “We have always said we will continue with developing our defense capacity and the defense equipment has nothing to do with chemical weapons.”

 “Compared to other regional states, we spend only a mere portion on the defense equipment. The missiles are only for defensive purposes and we have not invaded any country, neither we will do so in the future,” he added.

The foreign minister noted, “If we had missiles during Saddam’s war on us, they may have discouraged or at least reduced his indiscriminate attacks on our civilians. But when Saddam rained missiles on us and gassed our people for eight years, no one helped us.”

Zarif went on to add, “I challenge those who accuse Iran of provocation to make the same statement as IRGC commander: we will not use force except in defense. Neither the JCPOA (nuclear deal) nor the UN Security Council Resolution prohibit Iran from missiles not designed for nuclear warheads. Read the document: It’s plain English not legalese.”

The UN and most of the UN Security Council members have previously confirmed that Iran’s missile tests do not violate the contents of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and Resolution 2231 of the UN Security Council.

Iran has announced on different occasions that its tested missiles are not capable of carrying nuclear warheads as the US and some western countries have claimed.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov also said his country is against sanctions to be imposed against Iran because Iran has not violated any resolution with its missile tests.

 “I deem as unacceptable sanctions against Iran and in no way should the issue of imposing sanctions against Iran be discussed,” Gatilov told ITAR-Tass news agency on Wednesday.

He reiterated that his country has explicitly voiced its opposition to imposing sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council.

 “Iran has not violated any of UN Security Council’s (UNSC) resolutions,” Gatilov added.

He said there are not bans or prohibitions with regard to the missile tests conducted by Iran.

 “There are no bans in the UN Security Council’s resolutions or other decisions of the Council,” Gatilov added.

This come as the United States and some of its European allies are seeking a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran’s recent missile tests, which they claim were carried out “in defiance of” the UNSC resolution.

Resolution 2231, which endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the Iran-P5+1 agreement  –  provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions over the Iranian nuclear program.

On March 9, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps successfully fired two ballistic missiles as part of measures to assess its capabilities. The missiles were fired during large-scale drills.

Iran says its missiles are defensive and designed to carry conventional explosives only.

FNA

R.S