“The Islamic Republic will not hold any new talks on the JCPOA, and believes that the basic issues, such as the defense capabilities, including the missile technology that is necessary for defending the country, are not negotiable at all,” Ayatollah Amoli Larijani said in a meeting of senior Judiciary officials, held in Tehran on Monday.
He also took a swipe at the US government for supplying Saudi Arabia with arms that are used for war crimes in Yemen and for upsetting regional security, saying the US administration, led by a “delusional, unstable and vicious” president like Donald Trump, is in no position to talk about Iran’s defense power.
In comments in February, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran’s defense capabilities, hitting back at the enemies for disputing the country’s missile program.
“Without a moment of hesitation, the country must move to acquire whatever is necessary for defense, even if the whole world is opposed to it,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Iranian officials have also repeatedly dismissed any change of renegotiating or revising the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
In September 2017, AyatollahKhamenei lambasted the US for violating the JCPOA, warning that any “wrong move” concerning the nuclear deal would draw reaction from Iran.
Iran and the Group 5+1 reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and started to implement it in January 2016.
Ever since the deal took effect, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA in all quarterly reports, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.
While Trump has on various occasions called for renegotiating the JCPOA or terminating it, Iran and most other parties say the nuclear agreement is a valid multilateral international document that would not be renegotiated.