by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Baghdad : Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has said it was “astonished” by a report that Iran had moved ballistic missiles to armed groups in Iraq.
The Ministry confirmed on Sunday that all Iraqi state institutions were committed to the Constitution that states that its territory should not be used as a base or passage for any operation targeting the security of any other state, Xinhua news agency reported.
The western media reported earlier that Iran had given ballistic missiles to allied Shiite militias in Iraq and was developing the capacity to build more there.
The Ministry’s statement came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called up Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
According to a statement by Abadi’s office, Pompeo renewed his country’s support for a strong, stable and prosperous Iraq in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement which was signed (in 2008) by the two countries.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The US has approved the sale of missiles worth $133.3 million to Japan, saying it will serve to reinforce the Asian country’s defence against the ballistic missile threat from North Korea.
The consignment, which must still be approved by the US Congress, includes the sales of four missiles for the SM-3 interceptor Block IIA system and four MK29 launchers, in addition to the provision of technical and operational support by the US, Efe news reported.
The sale would also “follow through on President Donald Trump’s commitment to provide additional defensive capabilities to treaty allies” threatened by North Korea’s “provocative behaviour”, a State Department official said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the statement, Japan will be able to strengthen its missile defence system with these weapons and the security of the US facilities in the region will thus also be increased.
According to the latest official data released by the US State Department, in 2016, the Congress authorised the sale of weapons to Japan worth $7.995 billion.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Hassan Rouhani
Tehran : Iran has not stopped building missiles and has no intention of doing so, said President Hassan Rouhani.
Rouhani’s remarks came on Sunday, three days after the US House of Representatives approved legislation that would impose new sanctions on Tehran for pursuing long-range ballistic missiles, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In a speech carried on nationwide television, Rouhani insisted that no international agreements prohibit the development of such non-nuclear weapons, and that Iran has a right to produce them for its own defence.
“We will build, produce and store any weapon of any kind we need to defend ourselves, our territorial integrity and our nation, and we will not hesitate about it,” he said, according to a translation provided by the Iranian Students News Agency.
Several times in the speech, Rouhani took aim at the US for what he called its “shaky” commitment to the nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration.
US President Donald Trump has consistently attacked the deal, and recently refused to certify that Iran is living up to its end, although he did not pull out of the agreement as he has threatened to do.
“The administration of a country that abandons international commitments of the previous administration is not reliable,” the Iranian leader said.
In negotiating and signing the nuclear deal with the US, Rouhani frequently clashed with more conservative forces in Iran who opposed any cessation of the country’s nuclear weapons program. But there is near unanimity across the political spectrum in Iran on maintaining a robust missile program.
“The missile project is a red line for everybody,” said Saeed Laylaz, an economist and journalist who is considered a political moderate and reformer. “Nobody allows any country to put limits on its defensive military programme.”
Hamid Reza Taraghi, an influential conservative politician who is close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, agreed.
“All neighbouring countries in the region have missiles,” he said in an interview. “Israel has nuclear weapons, Pakistan and India have nuclear warheads, then we cannot have missiles? Give me a break.”
—IANS
