This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/world/middleeast/iran-missile-program-ayatollah-ali-khamenei.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Iran’s Supreme Leader Backs Missile Program | Iran’s Supreme Leader Backs Missile Program |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader backed the country’s missile program on Wednesday, criticizing a prominent ayatollah who had suggested that in the future, negotiations were far more important. | |
| Defending the military’s recent | |
| tests, which critics, particularly in the United States, say are a violation of the recently concluded nuclear agreement, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that both negotiations and the testing of missiles were important to Iran. | |
| “If the Islamic system pursues technology and negotiations without defense power, then this will be a retreat in the face of threats from other insignificant countries,” Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying in an address in Tehran. “Enemies continue strengthening their military and missile sectors. How can anyone say that the era of missiles has passed?” | “If the Islamic system pursues technology and negotiations without defense power, then this will be a retreat in the face of threats from other insignificant countries,” Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying in an address in Tehran. “Enemies continue strengthening their military and missile sectors. How can anyone say that the era of missiles has passed?” |
| Ayatollah Khamenei was responding to a comment posted on Twitter over a week ago by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and influential supporter of Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani. Ayatollah Rafsanjani wrote that the “world of tomorrow is one of negotiations, not the world of missiles.” | Ayatollah Khamenei was responding to a comment posted on Twitter over a week ago by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and influential supporter of Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani. Ayatollah Rafsanjani wrote that the “world of tomorrow is one of negotiations, not the world of missiles.” |
| Ayatollah Khamenei, in a rare open criticism, reacted harshly, though he referred only indirectly to Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s remark. “People say that tomorrow’s world is a world of negotiations and not a world of missiles,” he said. “If they say this thoughtlessly, it shows that they are thoughtless. However, if this is intentional, then this is treachery.” | Ayatollah Khamenei, in a rare open criticism, reacted harshly, though he referred only indirectly to Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s remark. “People say that tomorrow’s world is a world of negotiations and not a world of missiles,” he said. “If they say this thoughtlessly, it shows that they are thoughtless. However, if this is intentional, then this is treachery.” |
| Under the terms of the nuclear accord signed last summer, Iran was called on to “refrain” from testing missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. In October, the United States issued sanctions against some businesses and individuals after Iran tested an Emad missile in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, which bans Iran from undertaking any work on nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. | Under the terms of the nuclear accord signed last summer, Iran was called on to “refrain” from testing missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. In October, the United States issued sanctions against some businesses and individuals after Iran tested an Emad missile in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, which bans Iran from undertaking any work on nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. |
| Iranian officials say that under the nuclear agreement, it is clear that they do not have nuclear weapons, so the missile program is simply a part of the country’s conventional national security program. | Iranian officials say that under the nuclear agreement, it is clear that they do not have nuclear weapons, so the missile program is simply a part of the country’s conventional national security program. |