Previously set limit for missiles accuracy not enough \u201cwe have to go forward\u201d, says supreme leader
\n DUBAI
\nSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles, after US President Donald Trump made threats of force against Tehran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear programme.
\nKhamenei spoke a day after Iran\u2019s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned what he called \u201creckless and inflammatory statements\u201d by Trump in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News in which he said he preferred doing a deal to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear weapon to bombing the country.
\n\u201cProgress should not be stopped, we cannot be satisfied (with our current level). Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward,\u201d Khamenei said, citing a need to focus on innovation in the Iranian military.
\n\u201cToday, our defensive power is well-known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country,\u201d he added after visiting a Tehran exhibition showcasing the latest developments in Iran\u2019s defence sector.
\nThe semi-official Tasnim news agency said that during the exhibition a jet-powered \u201csuicide drone\u201d \u2014 loitering munitions that hover over targets \u2014 was unveiled with imagery of a submarine-launched kamikaze drone displayed for the first time.
\nTehran insists its ballistic missile programme is purely defensive but it is seen in the West as a destabilising factor in a volatile, conflict-ridden region.
\nKhamenei, who said on Friday that talks with the US were \u201cnot smart, wise or honourable\u201d, made no mention of Trump in his remarks on Wednesday.
\nTrump last week restored his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d policy towards Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero to push the country into a deal that would severely constrain its disputed nuclear programme.
\nWestern powers have long suspected that Iran\u2019s uranium enrichment programme is a disguised project to develop nuclear bomb material. Iran denies this, saying it seeks nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.
\nIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday questioned US sincerity in seeking talks with Tehran while imposing tougher sanctions echoing those Trump implemented during his first, 2017-21 term in office.
\nIravani, Tehran\u2019s United Nations ambassador, wrote in a letter to the UN Security Council that the Trump administration\u2019s policy \u201creinforces unlawful, unilateral coercive measures and escalates hostility against Iran\u201d.
\nThough Iran has long denied nuclear weapon ambitions, it is \u201cdramatically\u201d accelerating its enrichment of uranium to 60% fissile purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December.
\nTehran has in recent months announced new additions to its conventional weaponry, such as its first drone carrier and an underground naval base amid rising tensions with the US and its regional arch-enemy Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Previously set limit for missiles accuracy not enough \u201cwe have to go forward\u201d, says supreme leader DUBAI Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles, after US President Donald Trump made threats of force against Tehran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear programme. Khamenei […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-461247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n