Baku, Azerbaijan, March 26
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran will respond to the US new actions against Tehran's missile program by strengthening its missile capabilities, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said March 26.
"We don't see any limitation for our missile program because it has nothing to do with nuclear weapons," Zarif said, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported.
The top Iranian diplomat further said that President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the defense ministry to strengthen Iran missile power.
The US Department of the Treasury imposed financial sanctions on two more Iranian companies it claims are involved in the country's ballistic missile program.
Washington's latest legal move against Tehran was announced on March 24, weeks after the United States imposed similar sanctions on 11 other companies and individuals alleged to be involved in the missile program.
The United States said the companies are working for an industrial group, which Washington alleged is in charge of Iran's ballistic missile program.
Early in March Iran test-fired several ballistic missiles from several bases across the country as part of a massive missile drills.
While a couple of Western and regional states claims the recent tests have violated a UN resolution, Iranian officials have constantly reiterated that Tehran's ballistic missile tests do not violate the nuclear agreement it reached with the P5+1 group of countries and are not in breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution.