Official Dismisses Talks on Iran's Missile Program
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A senior Iranian official decried the Western push for negotiations on Iran’s missile program, saying Tehran will never ask for permission to boost its missile capabilities.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran would not ask for permission from any country for (development of) its missile power, and will keep boosting it according to the defense needs,” Ali Akbar Velayati, an international adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said in a meeting with a French delegation in Tehran on Sunday.
On a planned visit to Tehran by the president of France, Velayati said Emmanuel Macron will be definitely given a negative answer if he intends to raise the subject of Iran’s missile power.
The former Iranian foreign minister also criticized the French administration for its weak stances on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying Paris was expected to adopt a strong stance instead of following the White House’s advice on pushing Germany and Britain to revise the nuclear agreement with Iran.
The nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) will not be re-negotiated at all, Velayati underlined.
In comments in October 2017, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei categorically rejected the idea of negotiations on Iran’s defense power, stressing that the country will press ahead with the plans to boost its might and build up its defense capabilities.
“As we have announced several times in the past and announce it once again, the country’s defense capabilities and power are not subject to negotiations and bargaining,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a graduation ceremony of Army cadets at the time.
