Iran’s supreme top leader Ayatollah Khamenei has said missiles are key to the Islamic Republic’s future, offering support to the hardline Revolutionary Guards.
“Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors,” Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, was quoted as saying by his website.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile tests earlier in what they said was a demonstration of Iran’s power.
The United States and several European powers said the tests defied a U.N. Security Council Resolution that calls on Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles.
The head of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, has said the rockets had a range of about 1,200 miles and were capable of hitting the “Zionist regime,” Iran’s name for its archenemy Israel.
The chairman of the U. S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has said that Iran is making a mockery of President Obama’s vow to confront Iran’s dangerous acts.