Iran defends missile drive, hits sanctions
Ahmadinejad sees no threat
DUBAI, April 15, (Agencies): Iran will ask “no one’s permission” to build up its missile capability, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, in what appeared to be a defiant response to US efforts to hamper the Iranian military.
Facing an election in May where he hopes to secure a second four-year term, Rouhani has had to defend himself from opponents who say he has been too eager to appease the West, after agreeing to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
US President Donald Trump has criticised the nuclear deal and said during his election campaign he would stop Iran’s missile programme. After Iran test-fired a new ballistic missile in January, Trump tweeted that it was “playing with fire”.
Addressing an event showcasing some locally built military hardware, broadcast on state TV, Rouhani said: “The strengthening of the capability of the Iranian armed forces ... is only for defending the country and we will ask no one’s permission to build up the armed forces, and to build missiles and aircraft.”
He said Iran has never had “aggressive aims, but peace is not a one-way road and if we decide to be peaceful the other party ... may not. So there is a need for vigilance.”
A bill to impose new sanctions on Iran over ballistic missile launches and other non-nuclear activities has been delayed in the US Senate due to concerns about the presidential election.
Iran says its missile tests are not covered by the nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, Iran said on Friday that new US sanctions imposed against the brother of the high-profile commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm, Qassem Soleimani, were “illegal”.
The US Treasury added Sohrab Soleimani, along with the Tehran Prisons Organisation which he recently oversaw, to its list of individuals and entities facing sanctions on Thursday for alleged human rights violations.
“The US government with its failed domestic and international record is not in a position to comment or act on the human rights situation in other countries,” foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said.
Sohrab is the younger brother of Major General Qassem Soleimani, who oversees Iranian operations in Iraq and Syria and has been repeatedly pictured visiting Iranian-led forces in both countries.
The elder brother is already subject to US sanctions.
Sohrab Soleimani was director general of the Tehran Prisons Organisation for 15 years, until he became a supervisor in the national prisons bureau in March 2016.
The new sanctions follow a recent string of arrests targeting Iranians who also hold Western passports.
Iran does not recognise dual nationality and they have been held without public trial on national security charges.
The US Treasury said the Tehran Prisons Organisation oversees the notorious Evin Prison, where political prisoners have been subject to harsh interrogation, forced confessions, psychological and physical torture and denial of access to medical care.
Ghasemi said Washington had no
right “to assess on its own the human rights situation in other countries and to make decisions for them.”
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday he does not view recent US missile strikes on ally Syria as a message for Iran, which he called a “powerful country” that the US cannot harm.
The controversial former president made the remarks to The Associated Press on Saturday in his office in northern Tehran, three days after he stunned Iranians by registering to run for president again.
His surprise candidacy must still be approved by authorities but has already upended a race that was widely expected to be won by incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani.
Ahmadinejad dismissed suggestions that the US strike on Syria might also be a warning for his country.
“I do not think it has a message for Iran. Iran is a powerful country and people like Mr Trump or the United States administration cannot hurt Iran,” he said.
Ahmadinejad struck a mostly conciliatory tone during the interview, taking care to not stir up controversy that could alienate voters or clerical authorities.
He avoided repeating inflammatory statements that made him infamous in the West, such as those predicting Israel’s demise or questioning the scale of the Holocaust. He dodged questions about issues such as Iran’s missile program and the possible reaction by the US and Israel to another Ahmadinejad presidency.
Like all candidates, the 60-yearold must be vetted and approved by a powerful constitutional watchdog known as the Guardian Council before he can ultimately run. It will announce its list of approved candidates by April 27. The council, which is made up of clerics and Islamic jurists, normally disqualifies dissidents, women, and many reformists.
US President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year announced it was putting Iran “on notice” in part over its ballistic missile tests, and last week pounded a Syrian air base with cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack.
Iran is the main regional backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is involved militarily on the ground in that country’s civil war.
Ahmadinejad said the strike on Syria could have happened even if Hillary Clinton had won the US election. He added that the decision to attack Syria was made by people behind the scenes in the US, strongly implying that the US presidency is decided behind closed doors.
“Those who are the directors must give the role (of president) to a person who can pull it off best. A woman cannot put up a good war face,” he said. “A man can do that better. They need to come up with a figure and say he is very dangerous.”