Commander: Missile Capability Non-Negotiable

Date: 06 February 2015 - 20:56

News ID: ۱۰۶۲۹

TEHRAN (Press TV) -- A senior Iranian commander has dismissed as "meddlesome” recent U.S. claims that Tehran’s defense might would be part of the nuclear talks with six world powers, saying Iran’s missile capability is non-negotiable.
"Iran’s missile programs and defense capability, irrespective of their purpose, are not negotiable in any foreign circle,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said.
"We don’t allow the U.S. and others to interfere in the country’s defense affairs,” he added.
The commander underlined that Iran will use its defense might against bullying powers whenever it deems necessary.
He said Iran’s military might serves to defend the nations, adding that if the U.S. oversteps the red lines, then it will have to be worried about Iran’s missiles.
"Gone are the days when the U.S. was a superpower, but some still haven’t realized it,” he said.
Jazayeri’s comments came in reaction to the Monday remarks by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who claimed that Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities are part of the ongoing talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group of world powers over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
In relevant remarks on Tuesday, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi rejected Psaki’s claims, saying that Tehran’s "missile program has a completely defensive nature and the Islamic Republic of Iran does not regard the country’s defense issues as negotiable and will not hold such negotiations with any foreign side”.
Araqchi, who is also Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Legal and International Affairs, said that in line with Tehran’s nuclear talks with the P5+1 countries, no permission has been or will be issued in the future to hold negotiations on Iran’s defense and missile capabilities.
Iran and the P5+1 group - Russia, China, France, Britain, the U.S. and Germany - are in talks to secure a final comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear work.
Since an interim deal was agreed in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013, the negotiating sides have missed two self-imposed deadlines to ink a final agreement.
Iran and the P5+1 countries now seek to reach a high-level political agreement by March 1 and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.