Leader: Don’t Lace Nation’s Needs with Removal of Sanctions | ||
. Lader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei advised the government not to lace the nation’s needs with the removal of sanctions or the outcome of nuclear talks with the P5+1 group of countries. “I have always supported initiatives in foreign policy and negotiations,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on May 14 after visiting an expo showcasing latest military achievements by the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). The comment came as Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were about to sit for a new round of talks over the country’s nuclear energy program. On November 24, the two sides inked a nuclear agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva in a bid to set the stage for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear activities. Under the Geneva deal, the six countries have undertaken to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during six months. It was also agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same timeframe. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader rejected West’s expectations for Iran to limit its missile program as “stupid and idiotic”. “They (Western countries) expect Iran to curtail its missile program while they constantly threaten us with military action. Thus, such an expectation is stupid and idiotic,” the Leader said. The Leader said such expectations indicate enemies’ ‘ultimate defeat’ against the Iranian nation, urging the IRGC to further expand its programs and not to restrict itself to its current might. “The IRGC should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the advanced military equipment produced by the IRGC and said such achievements prove that Iran has the capabilities to step in areas that enemies strive to prevent it. During the two-hour visit, Ayatollah Khamenei unveiled an air defense system called ‘Khordad 3rd’ which can simultaneously track 4 targets and launch 8 missiles. An indigenous version of the US advanced drone RQ170 was also displayed at the exhibit. It took IRGC experts nearly two years to reverse engineer the reconnaissance UAV. In 2011, the Iranian military grounded the stealth aircraft while it was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 km) from the Afghan border.
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