EC secretary rejects US claim about inclusion of Iran's missile programme in North Talks

Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council (EC) Mohsen Rezayee strongly rejected the media reports that the world powers have asked Iran to allow inspection of its missile technology, stressing that Iran's missile program is a redline which cannot go under discussion in the negotiations. “Of course, no such issue has been raised in the negotiations (between Iran and the Group 5+1 - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) so far,” Rezayee told reporters in Tehran on Sunday. “Issues related to the missile program are surely among our redlines in the negotiations,” he added. Addressing a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) on the nuclear deal with Iran, US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman promised that Iran’s ballistic missile work would be addressed at a later time in a final agreement. “We see this as a first step,” she said. “We don’t consider the gaps that exist loopholes because this is not a final agreement. This is a first step.” In response, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also a senior negotiator in the talks with the six world powers, stressed, “The defence-related issues are a red line for Iran." “We will not allow such issues to be discussed in future talks,” he said. In November, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami said Iran is among the first three states having access to indigenous ballistic missile technology. “Many countries may have access to cruise missiles technology, but when it comes to ballistic missiles, I am confident that only the US and the (former) Soviet Union could master this technology, and now we can announce that we own this technology as well,” General Salami told FNA. He pointed to Iran’s capabilities in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and said, “While we did not have any knowledge about drones, we have developed and acquire drones that travel 2,000 kilometers, conduct their operations and then land in our desirable regions.” In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and gained self-sufficiency in essential military hardware and defense systems. The country has repeatedly made it clear that its military might is merely based on the state's defense doctrine of deterrence and that it poses no threat to other countries.