A series of Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal.
“As long as the United States supports Israel we will expand our missile capabilities,” the Revolutionary Guards’ second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
“We don’t have enough space to store our missiles. All our depots and underground facilities are full,” he said in Friday Prayers in Tehran.
Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan said Iran would boost its missile program and had never agreed to restrictions on it.
“Iran’s missile capabilities have never been the subject of negotiations with the Americans and will never be,” he was quoted as saying by Press TV, an Iranian state channel.
The defiant comments are a challenge for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama as the United States and European Union plan to dismantle nearly all international sanctions against Iran under the breakthrough nuclear agreement reached in July….
Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran’s October missile test did not violate the July nuclear accord, known as JCPOA.
“There is a clear difference between the JCPOA issue and the missile test and the missile test is not a breach of the JCPOA in any way,” he was quoted as saying by Press TV.
Source: Iran defies Obama, pledges to ramp up missile program
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