Nothing Will Confine Iran’s Defense Power: Top Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani made it clear that the country will not allow its defense and deterrence capabilities to be limited by any factor.
“Iran’s defense capabilities will not be influenced by any (outside pressure), and the country will not lose its (military) preparedness or stop boosting its deterrent power proportional to threats,” Shamkhani told reporters in Tehran on Saturday.
The senior official also slammed the media fuss in the West over Iran’s recent test of a new ballistic missile, stressing that it has no effect on a comprehensive nuclear deal reached between Tehran and world powers.
Last week, Iran successfully test-fired a ballistic missile dubbed ‘Emad’, a long-range guided projectile that can hit targets with high precision.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has already announced that the JCPOA, the lasting nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), "has made no mention of the missiles."
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) on July 14 reached a conclusion on a 159-page nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
Afterwards, the 15-memebr United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that endorsed the JCPOA.
Resolution 2231 calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”
Iran maintains that none of its missiles have been designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, because nuclear weapons have basically no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.
