Velayati: No Compromise on Iran’s Defensive Capabilities

Local Editor

The top adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati , vowed Tuesday that his country will never compromise on its defensive capabilities irrespective of the breakthrough in nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

"I say explicitly that the Islamic Republic of Iran will never back down on its defensive stance and will manufacture any type of missile deemed to be in its interest [except nuclear-capable ones], [including] liquid-fueled or solid-fueled and short-range or long-range [missiles],"Velayati confirmed.

He further reiterated that Tehran would never allow anyone to decide for the country on "what it could possess and what it could not."

He said Iran makes decisions "independently" because it is self-sufficient in the military industry, adding that no government is authorized to "dictate" the type of weapons the Islamic Republic could develop.

Pointing to a fatwa by Imam Khamenei, Velayati said Iran would not hesitate to manufacture any weapon other than nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction like chemical weapons.

In parallel, he reiterated that the Islamic Republic would never allow any inspection of its military sites.

Iran and the P5+1 countries - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany - succeeded in finalizing the text of an agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], in Vienna on July 14 after 18 days of intense negotiations that capped around 23 months of talks between Iran and the six world powers. The almost two-year negotiations were the culmination of over a decade of intermittent diplomatic efforts.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team