- Iranians holding Ashura mourning for Imam Hussein
- Third step: Iran officially informs EU of plan to expand nuclear R&D
- Iran expands nuclear R&D program: Rouhani
- Iran goes ahead in space tech, despite US sanctions: ISA
- Resistance Front undermining Israeli regime power: Top commander
- Iran: 7 crew members of detained UK ship freed
- US addiction to sanction threaten its power: Iran’s Zarif
- Dutch role in 2007 Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear site under scrutiny: Iraian FM Spox.
- Iran: ‘Sustainable Security 2019’ kicks off in Caspian Sea
- Iran’s Zarif leaves Tehran for Moscow
- Shiraz University ranked 1st in liver transplantation: Iranian health official
- Japan’s Abe to meet Iran’s president to discuss easing tension in region
- Downing of US spy drone shattered war threats against Iran: Top IRGC commander
- IAEO head reports development of first ion-therapy hospital in west of Asia
- Iranian Taekwondo team wins 2019 World Cup championship
- US sanctions failed to force Iran to buckle: Report
- Crew fixing Iran oil tanker broken down in Red Sea
- As Iranians hold nerves, US seeks to scare off trade
- Leader expresses concern about Kashmir, urges India to follow fair policy toward Muslim-majority region
- Iran saffron exports down due to smuggling, government restrictions: Exporter
- Iran FM warns US against ‘serious miscalculation’ in Persian Gulf
- Iran’s resistance policy led to release of oil tanker: MP
- Iran in reverse brain drain as top students come home in rising numbers
- Iran official calls for compensation for tanker seizure
- Iran hails N Korea for standing against ‘unilateral’ US demands
- Shia Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Ghadir
- North Korea praises Iran’s anti-US struggle
- Zarif says to meet French president Friday
- Iranian court hearing case of UK oil tanker
- Over half of Japanese voters oppose joining US-led anti-Iran coalition in Persian Gulf: Poll
- IME trade ups by 21 percent in July
- Finland backs INSTEX in defiance of US
- US anti-Iran policy in high seas harms Europeans: LA Times
- Iran, China confer on Syria
- Iran, Finland share views on Persian Gulf dialogue forum: Zarif
- Iran warns US against seizure of oil tanker
- Iraq eager to benefit from Iranian Police’s experience
- Iran planning 3rd step to reduce nuclear commitments: Spokesman
- Leader grants clemency to over 1,000 Iranian inmates
- Registration for Arbaeen Pilgrimage to begin in Iran on Friday
- Iran, Iraq agree to reopen Khosravi border crossing
- Iran deplores suicide attack at Kabul wedding hall
- Iran to hold int'l hand-woven carpets expo
- Zarif meets with Iran-Kuwait Friendship Group members
- Adrian Darya oil tanker not under any sanctions, says Iran envoy
- ‘Iran to stay in nuclear deal as long as its interests are met’
- India envoy happy with positive trend of trade with Iran
- Iran’s annual export of white meat tops 2.5m tons: Minister
- Iranian scientist discovers new state of matter
- Iran, Japan diplomats discuss bilateral ties
- Iran, Ansarullah, European representatives Yemen developments
- ‘Iran to become self-sufficient in producing aircraft engines'
- US issues seizure warrant for Iranian supertanker 'Grace 1'
- Neanderthal tooth unearthed near Iran’s Zagros mountain
- Iran’s Zarif due in Kuwait on Saturday
- US faces humiliating defeat after Gibraltar releases Iranian tanker: Envoy
- Spokesman rejects claim on Iran’s commitment in exchange for tanker release
- Zarif reacts to release of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar
- Israel, UAE engaged in secret talks on Iran arranged by US: Report
- US threatens visa ban as Iranian-operated tanker sets to sail from Gibraltar
- Enemies must factor Iran's global power in their calculations: IRGC's chief commander
- Trump’s administration conflicting messages to Iran baffle go-betweens: Report
- Gibraltar releases Iran-operated tanker despite US pressure
TEHRAN, September 24 - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has touched on Iran’s missile power, saying the country is developing its own defenses instead of buying billions of dollars worth of the so-called beautiful military equipment from the US.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Zarif was referring to US President Donald Trump’s remarks before a meeting with Qatrai Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani back in May, when he said, “One of the things we will discuss is the purchase of lots of beautiful military equipment because nobody makes it like the United States.”
“We have said time and again and we have proven that our missiles are for defense,” Zarif said in an interview with the US news network CNN aired on Sunday.
During the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran in the 1980s, Zarif noted, Iranian cities were being “showered” by missiles of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was a “sweetheart” of the US and Western countries.
At that time, Iran did not have a single missile to use as deterrence, he said.
Zarif was asked about Iran’s reaction to Trump’s possible withdrawal from the agreement or its decertification.
The foreign minister said if the US withdrew from the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic could walk away from the accord and resume its peaceful nuclear activities.
“Iran has a number of options, which include walking away from the deal and going back with greatest speed with its nuclear program, which will remain peaceful but which will not address and accept the limitations that we voluntarily accepted over out nuclear program."
The Trump administration has twice certified Iranian compliance with the deal in notifications to the US Congress under an American law. But it has signaled that a third verification — due in mid-October — would not be forthcoming.
Zarif told CNN host Fareed Zakaria that the certification is not part of the deal, but rather a US internal procedure, adding that the only authority that has been recognized to verify the nuclear deal is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016.
Under the deal, Iran applied some limits to its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of all nuclear-related sanctions against it, Presstv
All the parties to the deal are determined to sustain it except Washington, which seems to be planning a unilateral withdrawal.
Earlier this week, Trump said the JCPOA was “an embarrassment to the United States” and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Your Comment