No int’l deal restricts countries’ missile activities: Iran

A high-ranking Iranian military commander says there are no international agreements that set limits on countries’ missile power and Iran would accept no such restrictions, either.

Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, who is a senior spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic’s defensive power was non-negotiable, given the threats posed by Western states.

He said Iran’s defensive capabilities constituted a “red line” for the country.

“The political bluffs [that are presented] and the pressure that is applied is meant to impede the progress of the country’s defensive might; disregarding all of that, we will continue on our path,” he said.

He also said that the presence of US troops in the region actually serves to support the “proxy warfare” that Washington is waging.

Iran has repeatedly insisted that its military capabilities are solely for defense purposes and pose no threat to other countries. But it has stressed that if it is invaded by another party, it will unleash destructive power on it.

Washington has on several occasions introduced sanctions against Iran over its missile program.

The United States claims that Iran’s missile tests and rocket launches violate UN Resolution 2231 (2015), which was adopted in July 2015 to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.

But that resolution does not prohibit Iran from engaging in missile activity. And the US has thus failed to get other Council members on board with its sanctions, resorting to unilateral sanctions only.