LONDON: The deputy head of Iran?s Revolutionary Guards warned
Europe that if it threatens Tehran, the Guards will
increase the
range of missiles to above 2,000 kilometres, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
France has called for an ?uncompromising? dialogue with
Iran about its ballistic
missile programme and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran?s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran has repeatedly said its
missile programme is defensive and not negotiable. ?If we have kept the
range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometres, it?s not due to lack of technology. . . . We are following a strategic doctrine,? Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to Fars.
?So far we have felt that
Europe is not a threat, so we did not
increase the
range of our missiles. But if
Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will
increase the
range of our missiles,? he added. The head of Iran?s Revolutionary Guards military force, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said last month that Iran?s 2,000-km
missile range could cover ?most of American interest and forces? within the region, so
Iran did not need to extend it. Jafari said the ballistic
missile range was based on the limits set by the country?s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces.
Iran has one of the Middle East?s largest
missile plan and some of its precision-guided missiles have the
range to strike Israel.
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