A top military commander stressed that Tehran's missile capability will never be the subject of discussions with any foreign countries.
"Our missile capabilities will never be the subject of deals, negotiations and compromise," Fars News Agency quoted Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Lieutenant General Hossein Salami as saying in Tehran on Saturday.
Salami was responding to the statement made by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday suggesting Washington was open to a "new arrangement" with Iran for resolving disputes such as Tehran's ballistic missile tests last month that prompted calls, especially in the US, for sanctions on Iran.
Kerry was quoted as saying by ABC News that the US and its partners are telling Iran that they are "prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution to these issues", referring to Tehran's missile tests and regional conflicts.
Salami said, "It is beyond their competence to talk about our defense requirements."
This is while US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said on Friday Washington has no new arrangement for negotiation with Iran over its ballistic missiles.
"He [Kerry] was just emphasizing or underscoring the fact that if Iran chooses to act more constructively in the region, then we can have a different kind of relationship with Iran," Toner said at a daily briefing.
