Iran Dismisses US Criticism of Missile Program as ‘Nonsense’
Iran on Wednesday dismissed as “nonsense” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s criticism this week of the Islamic republic’s missile program as an “unacceptable risk”.
“He was speaking nonsense,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told journalists, adding the United States was “not supposed to comment on the defensive capabilities of a nation that has decided to preserve its independence at any cost.”
The missile program was Iran’s means “to stand against the greed, aggression and assaults of foreigners — including the US and the Zionist regime”, he said, referring to Israel.
During a Monday visit to Israel, Rubio vowed to maintain the “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Tehran which was imposed during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
That policy saw Washington unilaterally withdraw from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.
“A nuclear Iran governed by a radical Shiite cleric that possesses not just nuclear weapons potentially but the missiles that could deliver those weapons far away is an unacceptable risk, not just for Israel, not just for the United States, but for the world,” Rubio said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United States would press ahead with pressure on Iran until “they change course”, he added.
