Press TV- Foreign Minister MohammadJavad Zarif hastouched on Irans missile power, saying the country is developingits own defenses instead ofbuying billions of dollars worth of the so-called beautiful military equipment from the US.
Zarif was referring to US President Donald Trumps 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 networkCNN airedon Sunday.
During theIraqi-imposedwar on Iran in the 1980s,Zarif noted, Iranian cities were being showered by missiles of the formerIraqidictatorSaddamHussein, who was a sweetheart ofthe US and Western countries.
At that time, Iran did not have a single missile to use as deterrence, he said.
The foreign minister also said if the US withdrewfrom the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic couldwalk away from the accord and resume its peaceful nuclear activities.
Zarif was asked about Irans reaction toTrumps possible withdrawal from the agreement or its decertification.
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 hostFareedZakariathat 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 theInternational Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA).
PressTV-Trump: Iran nuclear deal an 'embarrassment' to US
In his first address to the United Nations, President Trump calls the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran an "embarrassment."
Iran and the five permanent members of the UNSecurity 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.
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.
