Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Asks Iran To Strengthen Military Response To Trump's Threat

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left)/PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran should further develop its military including its missiles.

This was conveyed in response to US President Donald Trump's remarks that threatened violence against Tehran if the country refused to negotiate on its nuclear program.

Khamenei spoke a day after Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, denounced what he called Trump's "reckless statement and inciting" in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News.

In the interview, Khamenei said he preferred to make an agreement to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons than bombing the country.

"Progress should not be stopped, we cannot be satisfied (with the level we currently have). Let's say we previously set limits on the accuracy of our missiles, but now we feel that the limits are no longer sufficient. We must move forward," Khamenei said, citing the need to focus on innovation in the Iranian military. reported by Reuters, Wednesday, February 12.

"Currently, our defense forces are well known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country," he continued after visiting an exhibition in Tehran featuring the latest developments in Iran's defense sector.

The Tasnim semi-official news agency said during the exhibition the jet-powered "suicide drone" was inaugurated with images of kamikaze drones launching from submarines displayed for the first time.

Tehran insists its ballistic missile program is purely defensive, but it is seen by Western countries as a factor disrupting stability in volatile and conflict-filled territory.

Khamenei previously called talks with the United States "unsmart, wise or honorable".

Trump last week returned the "maximum pressure" and opened a new policy towards Iran that included efforts to reduce its oil exports to zero to push the Islamic Republic to reach an agreement that would severely limit its disputed nuclear program.

Western countries have long suspected Iran's uranium enrichment program was a covert project to develop nuclear bomb material. Iran denies this and says it uses nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.