Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Thursday its ballistic missile programme would accelerate despite US and European Union pressure to suspend it, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
In a significant US policy shift on 13 October, President Donald Trump disavowed Iran’s compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and launched a more aggressive approach to the Islamic Republic over its missile development activity.
“Iran’s ballistic missile programme will expand and it will continue with more speed in reaction to Trump’s hostile approach towards this revolutionary organisation (the Guards),” the IRGC said in a statement published by Tasnim.
The Trump administration has imposed new unilateral sanctions aimed at impairing Iran’s missile programme. It has called on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans.
Tehran has repeatedly pledged to continue what it calls a defensive missile capability in defiance of Western criticism.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171019-irans-guards-say-missile-programme-will-accelerate-despite-pressure/
