Iran's Supreme National Security Council shrugged off the fuss US politicians have made about Tehran's testing of missiles, stressing that it will continue to improve its military deterrence for warding any possible threat.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is busy preserving its deterrent power within the framework of its defense interests, no matter what others say about it," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the council, told reporters in Tehran on Saturday, Tasnim News Agency reported.
His comments came in reaction to the recent US rhetoric of imposing fresh anti-Iran sanctions over a ballistic long-range missile that Tehran tested in October 2015.
Asked if US plans to impose new sanctions on Iran are tantamount to the breach of a July nuclear deal between Tehran and P5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), Shamkhani said, "We will make the proportionate decision about any move that is a breach of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reaches the implementation stage."
On December 31, 2015, a few days after the US Treasury Department unveiled plans for imposing fresh sanctions on Iran due to the testing of Emad missile, President Hassan Rouhani ordered the Defense Ministry to continue production of missiles needed by the armed forces "more quickly and seriously."
