Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Iran has improved its missile program which is meant for deterrence in proportion to the foreign threats the country is facing today.
“In proportion to possible threats against the country, we have tried to increase the range of our missiles,” Lieutenant General Dehqan said, adding that Iran is currently striving to boost the accuracy of its missiles and make them radar-evading.
“Iran has an acceptable position among countries possessing missile capabilities, and stands after the United States, Russia and China,” Fars news agency quoted him as saying in a televised interview with the Arabic-language Al-Alam news network on Friday.
Dehqan pointed to the efforts by the US and its allies to include Iran’s missile capabilities in the ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) and said, “What we are discussing with the P5+1 is merely the nuclear issue, and no other topic will be discussed.”
Dehqan, elsewhere, said Iran considers Iraq’s holy sites as its own “red line” and if the self-declared Islamic State (IS) militants or other groups posed any threats to those sites, Tehran would take necessary measures in response.
In response to a question about alleged Iranian involvement in any airstrikes in Iraq targeting IS positions, the minister neither confirmed nor denied those allegations but said, “Security is of prime importance to us, when any group outside the Iranian borders pose a threat to us, our red line is our national security.”
He added that Iran is cooperating with the governments of Syria and Iraq to restore stability and security in both countries because “we believe it could ensure security and stability in the whole region.”
Dehqan also underlined that such cooperation has so far been in the forms “military advice and training”.
