President Donald Trump accused Iran of funding terrorists and creating a dangerous missile arsenal during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. On Friday, the Iranian President came out and flatly said Iran wants to strengthen its missile capabilities – and doesn’t intend to ask permission to do it. And, Iran revealed a new ballistic missile during a military parade there.
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“We will increase our military power as a deterrent. We will strengthen our missile capabilities … We will not seek permission from anyone to defend our country,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Friday. “All countries in the world supported the nuclear deal in the United Nations General Assembly this year … except the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel).”
An Iranian news agency reported that there was a new Iranian ballistic missile with a 1,200-mile range on display during a military parade there, Reuters reported.
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The Iranian nuclear deal was drawn up in 2015. Its framework includes stipulations that Iran would redesign, convert and reduce its number of nuclear facilities in order to lift nuclear-related economical sanctions, which would reportedly free up billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen assets for Iran. The U.S. and Iran also agreed to their own terms, along with terms penned with other nations.
On Tuesday, President Trump told the U.N. that the Iranian government “masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy,” and that it has “turned a wealthy country with rich history and culture into a rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos.”
Trump said the oil profits Iran makes “fund terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack peaceful neighbors.”
“We can’t let this happen while they also build dangerous missiles. We can’t abide by the agreement if they eventually construct a nuclear program,” the President said, pointing out that the Iran deal was “one of the worst one-sided transactions the U.S. has ever entered into,” and it’s an “embarrassment to the U.S.”
“I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it, believe me,” Trump said. “It’s time for the entire world to join us in telling Iran to stop pursuing death and destruction. […] Stop supporting terrorists.”
“We will stop radical Islamic terrorism because we can not allow it to tear up our nation and the entire world,” the President added.
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Reuters reported Friday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the agreement needs to change or the U.S. would not continue abiding by it, but that Iran has said the deal can’t be renegotiated.
Following the President’s U.N. address, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Trump’s speech was “absurd” and that the President was “seriously ill-informed” about the deal.
In a series of tweets on Sept. 20, the Iranian President said: “Ugly, ignorant words were spoken by the U.S. president against the Iranian nation. Full of hatred & baseless allegations and unfit for [United Nations General Assembly].”
“By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility for future negotiations,” he wrote. “Iran’s defense capacities are only deterrent. Target of Saddam’s ballistic missiles won’t be victim of irrational aspirants again.”
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