NOURNEWS - Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh underlined Iran has limited the range of its missiles to 2,000km on the basis of its own decision, but the decision is not something permanent.
“The power of our missiles can be seen in the comments of our enemies. No one has forced us to restrict ourselves to the range of 2,000km because we do not talk to anyone about our missile power. It (2,000km range) was our decision and this range is not permanent for us,” General Hajizadeh said in an interview with the Arabic-language al-Manar news channel.
He reiterated the country’s position on the prohibition of talks on its missile power, saying that negotiation on the issue is a national redline.
The Iranian foreign ministry in a statement in December dismissed any possibility for holding talks on issues related to its defense program and national security, saying that regional instabilities are rooted in the European states’ huge arms trades with the Persian Gulf Arab states.
“We are firm and clear in our view that the nuclear deal will not be renegotiated. By maximum resistance, Iran showed to the world that it does not negotiate with anyone over its national security and national interests, and speculations over this point have no root in reality. Iran has its own defense priorities and will act accordingly,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in a press conference in Tehran.
“We do not talk to anyone about issues related to national interests and national security and defense, nor do we allow anyone to joke with us in this regard. They know better than anyone the root causes of unrests in the region. Today, there is a flood of exports of arms and special and advanced weapons by European countries to the Persian Gulf Arab states and they have turned the region into an arsenal of their deadly weapons,” he added.
Iranian officials have in the past few years repeated opposition to talks on defense and missile issues, reiterating that the country's power components are not for compromise.
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami underlined that enemies can never stop Iran's progress and development in defense fields or coax the country into negotiations about them.
"We will never stop increasing the defense capabilities and we will not retreat because it is among our redlines and therefore, the issue of defense capabilities is not negotiable, modifiable, stoppable and controllable," General Salami said, addressing a ceremony in Tehran in November 2019.
Asked if Iran would agree to take part in missile talks under the pressures and US sanctions, he said, "This will never happen."
General Salami downplayed military threats against Iran, and said, "We ensure the Iranian nation that the talent and capacity of the Iranian Armed Forces and the IRGC are so high that they will confront any enemy, no matter how big, and therefore, the nation should rest assured and live in tranquility because we are capable of defeating any enemy."
He also warned the enemies against approaching Iran’s borders, saying that with the rapid development of the Iranian missile systems, there is no longer any safe zone for hostile aircraft carriers within or out of Iran’s territorial waters.
“Given the successful mounting of ballistic missiles on (IRGC) speedboats, the enemy’s aircraft carriers will no longer be safe in any spot,” General Salami said.
“This is a pleasant fact for the Muslim World and us, and a painful one for the enemies,” he added.
Noting that the enemy’s sanctions have stimulated the stage of development in the Islamic Republic’s defense sector, the IRGC chief said, “We currently possess precision-guided missiles; only experts can understand the difficulty of turning ballistic missiles into precision-guided ones.”
Major General Salami said such evolutions have made Iran the biggest missile power in the region.
Also, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei blasted the world powers which oppose Iran's missile power, and stressed once again that Tehran would not allow others to intrude in its missile and defense programs.
"This issue is none of your (enemies') business. You (the enemies) want the Iranian nation not to have missiles and other defensive possibilities so that you bully it," Ayatollah Khamenei said in Tehran in February 2018.
He underlined that production and modernization of all the tools and equipment needed by the country today and tomorrow should be prioritized, and said, "Without even a single moment of doubt, the country should move towards anything that it needs to defend itself even if the world opposes."
"Of course, we have placed a religious ban on things like nuclear bombs and WMDs but we powerfully pursue any (other) thing that we need," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"We are aware of the enemies' open and secret threats, words and plots but we stress without any moment of doubt that the Islamic Republic which relies on people will become more powerful day by day," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei also recited a sentence by the late founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini, and said, "The US can do no damn thing."