No stop to Iran’s missile program development: IRGC cmdr.

A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran will never stop developing its “defensive and deterrent” ballistic missile program.

The boost in Iran’s missile might serves deterrent purposes and is unstoppable, Commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Division Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said on Monday.

No one doubts that the promotion of the defensive power of Iran’s Armed Forces serves to guarantee the security of the Iranian nation and deter any potential aggression against the country, he added.

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department blacklisted two Iranian companies claiming that the firms backed Iran’s ballistic missile program. Washington also claimed that the companies are working for an industrial group, which the US alleges is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

The blacklisting came after the IRGC successfully test-fired two more ballistic missiles on March 9 as part of military drills to assess the IRGC’s capabilities. The missiles dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F were fired during large-scale drills, code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat.

On March 8, Iran fired another ballistic missile called Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country.

Hajizadeh further noted that US sanctions are aimed at intimidating Iranian officials, emphasizing that such moves are futile.

“We have previously announced that even if they build a wall all around the country, the production of missiles will not stop in Iran,” the IRGC commander said, adding, “Western countries are trying to scare [Iranian] officials. They are trying to scare officials [by threatening them] with military aggression and sanctions and this fear is our biggest threat.”

He emphasized that the Iranian Armed Forces will strongly resist any aggression.

US claims Iran’s missile tests violate the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed a nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), clinched by Iran and the P5+1 countries – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – on July 14, 2015.

Iran, however, has repeatedly announced that the missile launches were not against the Security Council resolution.

Resolution 2231 (2015) provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear program, and calls on Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.