Iran wants to expand missile range
Tehran threat on oil
GENEVA, Dec 4, (Agencies): Iran wants to increase its missiles’ range, a senior military official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a move that would irk the United States which views Tehran’s weapons programme as a regional security threat.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, criticising the deal for not including curbs on Iran’s development of ballistic missiles.
“One of our most important programmes is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition,” said the head of the Iranian air force, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
“We don’t see any limitations for ourselves in this field.”
Iran’s military has cited 2,000 kms (1,240 miles) as the current missile range, and said US bases in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, plus US aircraft carriers in the Gulf, were within range.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also defended the missile programme in a Twitter post on Tuesday, in which he said the UN Security Council resolution which endorsed the nuclear agreement did not ban Tehran from working on missiles.
“Making a mockery of the UNSC won’t obscure failure to fulfill obligations & to hold US to account over non-compliance. Esp when even US admits that UNSCR2231 does
NOT prohibit Iran’s deterrent capabilities. Rather than undermining 2231, better to work towards its adherence by all.” Zarif wrote.
Nasirzadeh did not give details on how far Iran would like to increase that range, according to the Fars report.
Tehran insists its missile programme is purely defensive but has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if Washington tries to strangle its exports.
At the weekend, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he described as Iran’s testing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads as a violation of the agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Iran has repeatedly said its missile programme is not up for negotiation.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani struck a defiant stance against US sanctions on Tuesday, renewing his threat to cut off international oil sales from the Gulf.
“America should know ... it is not capable of preventing the export of Iran’s oil,” Rouhani said at a televised rally in Semnan province.
“If it ever tries to do so ... no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf,” he added.
Since the 1980s, Iran has said repeatedly it would blockade the Gulf in response to international pressure but has never carried out the threat.
Washington has reimposed sanctions, including an oil embargo, since withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in May.
It has vowed to reduce Iran’s oil sales to zero, but has granted temporary waivers to eight countries.
Rouhani last threatened to close the Gulf in July when he warned the US “should not play with the lion’s tail.”
The president downplayed the economic impact of sanctions, accusing the media of exaggerating the country’s problems.
“No hyperinflation, no massive unemployment will threaten us. People should stop saying such things in the papers,” he told the crowd.
The latest inflation report from Iran’s central bank says food prices rose 56 percent year-on-year in October.
Rouhani acknowledged there were “some problems”, but said these would be addressed in the new budget plan to be presented on Dec 16.
He said the government would maintain subsidies on essential goods and increase public sector wages and pensions by 20 percent.
The United States will not be able to stop Iran exporting its oil and any move to prevent Iranian crude shipments passing through the Gulf would lead to all oil exports through the waterway being blocked, Iran’s president said on Tuesday.