Senior Commander:

Iran Not to Negotiate Defense, Missile Power

TEHRAN (defapress)- Deputy Commander of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari underlined Tehran's opposition to talks with any country on its missile and defense power.

News ID: 68673

Date: 14 February 2018 - 21:14

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's defense power is not negotiable and we don’t take permission from anyone for the type of weapons that we can have to defend our country," Rear Admiral Sayyari said on Wednesday.

He underscored that Iran strengthens its defense power to the point that it creates deterrence power while its moves on the basis of the international laws.

"We have respected the framework of international regulations," Rear Admiral Sayyari said.

His remarks came after Iranian Supreme Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati underlined that his country will definitely reject any offer or request that might be raised in future by French President Emanuel Macron to hold talks on Tehran's missile program.

"If Macron raises issues related to missile negotiations during his visit to Tehran, he will certainly receive the Islamic Republic of Iran's negative response," Velayati said in a meeting with a French parliamentary delegation in Tehran on Sunday.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not take permission from any country about its missile power and will develop its missile power appropriate to its defense needs," he added.

In relevant comments on Saturday, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami reiterated Iran's firm opposition to talks with the foreign states on its defense and missile power.

"Missile is no issue for our negotiations with any power. The nuclear deal is not related to the missile power at all; missiles are rather a part of our defense power and we will never hold talks about it," General Salami told reporters in Tehran.

"The Europeans should know that the nuclear deal is not related to the development of missile power, and our determination to develop our defense power is more independent than any other power," he added.

His remarks came after the IRGC in a statement on Friday reiterated its firm stance against enemies' plots to access and weaken Iran's defense and missile power.

"The chain of failures of the US and the Zionist regime and their European and regional allies on the scene of proxy wars and Takfiri terrorism … reminds this undeniable reality that the Islamic Republic of Iran as the first and undisputed power in West Asia will never be intimidated by the multiplied and extensive seditions of the western wolves and devils, will defend the country's independence in all fields and will not allow the enemies to approach the gates of its defensive might and deterrent missile power and weaken its security and national defense shield," the statement said on the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran on February 11, 1979.

It also underlined the Islamic Revolution's progress and move towards its great causes despite enemies' different plots and hostilities, adding that the enemies will witness the celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution with wide-open eyes.