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 km, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
France has called for an “uncompromising” dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive and not negotiable.
“If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 km, it’s not due to lack of technology. ... We are following a strategic doctrine,” Brig. Gen. 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 US accused Iran this month of supplying Yemen’s Houthi militias with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the UN to hold Tehran accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions.
Salami claimed that the Houthis managed to increase the range and precision of their missiles in a “scientific breakthrough.”
Salami said that Iran’s support for the Houthis was “political and spiritual.”
The US has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a UN resolution that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The US says Iran’s missile program is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.