‘Iran Defense Capabilities Non-Negotiable’

Date: 13 February 2018 - 20:59

News ID: ۵۰۰۷۲

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran has reiterated its policy of not negotiating its missiles power, saying no country has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic.
During a weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said, "Our defense capabilities are nobody’s business.”
Iran has heard a lot of "nonsense” over the past 40 years, he said, referring to anti-Tehran remarks made by hegemonic powers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is based on interaction,” he said, adding, however, that the country would never accept any bullying.
Iran has always stressed that its military might and test of missiles are issues pertaining to the defense of its territorial integrity and have nothing to do with other matters, the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany), known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran has also underscored frequently that its military might poses no threat to other countries and that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.
Since the JCPOA came into force in early 2016, the US has been seeking to link the deal to Iran’s missile program.
US President Donald Trump, who has called the JCPOA the "worst deal ever negotiated”, has called for renegotiating it to address what he calls concerns about Iran’s missile capabilities.
The Islamic Republic has underlined that the nuclear agreement is not renegotiable under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Army Commander-in-Chief Brig. Gen. Mousavi said Tuesday that the country would build its defense walls even higher against any intrusion by ‘thieves’.
Speaking to Mehr News about the insistence of the U.S. and certain European countries on holding negotiations over Iran’s missile program and defense capabilities, Brig. General Abdolrahim Mousavi said it was the nation’s demand for building the country’s defense walls higher against the intrusion of any ‘thieves’.
"The Iranian nation is well-informed and well-aware that when a thief asks the house owner to lower the walls, he isn’t asking that out of the kindness of his heart; he just wants to find an easier way into the house,” said the army commander.
Brig. Gen. Mousavi stressed that the Iranian nation is well aware of the need for boosting deterrent defense and will defend against this right with all their might, adding "our nation knows that higher walls are needed to stop the intrusion of thieves, and no one in the world today has any doubt that the U.S. is the king of all thieves.”
"We will keep developing our defense power and will ask no thief for permission,” he stressed.