Iran: We don't need permission to develop defense capabilities
Iranian army chief calls US leaders 'disloyal, cruel, criminal, isolated, angry, corrupt, and on the Zionist regime's payroll' after US secretary of state's threats to impose 'the strongest sanctions in history' on Tehran if it doesn't curb regional influence and limit missile program.
The chief of staff of Iran's armed forces dismissed on Wednesday US demands for Tehran to curb its influence in the region, and said it would not seek permission from any country to develop defense capabilities.
"Iranian armed forces are now, thanks to God, more prepared than ever and will not wait for the permission or approval of any power to develop defense capabilities," Major General Mohammad Bagheri was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.
The statement came two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would impose "the strongest sanctions in history" if Tehran did not curb its regional influence and limit its missile program.
Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Chief, called US leaders "disloyal, cruel, criminal, isolated, angry, corrupt, and on the Zionist regime's payroll," and said Washington did not have the courage for a military confrontation with Tehran, IRNA reported.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also slammed Pompeo, calling his comments about Iran "untrue."
Zarif said Pompeo had repeated old allegations against Tehran "only with a stronger and more indecent tone."
"Pompeo and other US officials are trapped in old illusions ... They are taken hostage by corrupt pressure groups," Zarif said in a live interview on state television.
Pompeo vowed Monday that the US would step up efforts against Iran's support for groups like the Houthis in Yemen, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, the Palestinian Hamas group and Syria's government.
"Iran has no possible path to a nuclear weapon, ever," Pompeo said. As he called for a better agreement to constrain Iran's activities, he said the US would "apply unprecedented financial pressure" to bring Tehran back to the table.
"These will end up being the strongest sanctions in history by the time we are complete," Pompeo said at the conservative Heritage Foundation, his first major policy speech since taking over as top diplomat.
The Trump administration made good on that vow Tuesday with new sanctions targeting five Iranians.
The US Treasury Department announced that it was blacklisting the five for providing the Houthi rebels with technical expertise that has allowed them to launch missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia. All five are members of or are affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The sanctions freeze any assets the five may have in US jurisdictions and prohibit Americans from any transactions with them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
