The Iranian Horn Continues to Grow

Iran's missile programme will grow despite pressure

TRT World
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards say the country's ballistic missile programme would accelerate despite pressure from US and EU to halt it, local media reports.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that the country's ballistic missile programme would accelerate despite pressure from the United States and European Union to suspend it, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
"Iran's ballistic missile programme will expand and it will continue with more speed in reaction to Trump's hostile approach towards this revolutionary organisation," the Guards said in a statement.
In a major US policy shift, President Donald Trump last Friday refused to certify Tehran's compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, signalling he would take a more aggressive approach to Iran over its ballistic missiles programme.
Defensive missile capability
The Trump administration has imposed new unilateral sanctions targeting Iran’s missile activity.
It has called on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans.
Tehran has repeatedly pledged to continue what it calls a defensive missile capability in defiance of Western criticism.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's religious leader Ali Khamenei rejected suggestions, notably from French President Emmanuel Macron, that more negotiations were needed on Iran's ballistic missile programme and regional operations.
Europe "must refrain from entering into our defence issues," Khamenei said.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has told Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi that Moscow remains committed to the Iran nuclear deal, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.