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Iran Unveils New Missile for Program Targeted by Trump

Iran Unveils New Missile for Program Targeted by Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Iran unveiled a new generation of missiles at a ceremony on Monday, expanding a program cited by the Trump administration as one justification for its decision to reimpose sanctions.

The “Fateh Mobin” would help protect the nation, Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by state-run Tasnim news agency. In countering Iran’s enemies, authorities are prioritizing “local manufacturing of strategic defense equipment,” he said. The new missile’s range wasn’t announced.

President Donald Trump -- encouraged by Iran’s regional foes -- pulled the U.S. from the 2015 multiparty nuclear accord in May, accusing the Islamic Republic of threatening Middle East security as it expands its regional influence. The first sanctions were reimposed this month, with Iran’s vital oil industry due to face penalties from November.

Trump has signaled he’s willing to negotiate a more comprehensive deal that includes Iran’s missiles, but Iranian leaders accuse Washington of ripping up international rules and have rejected the overture.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday joined in, saying the U.S. was simultaneously talking of war and negotiations. He ruled out either outcome in a tweet partly written in the all-caps style often favored by Trump. When the Americans “want to negotiate with a party, they define the main goal and won’t take one step back from that,” Khamenei said in separate comments carried by Tasnim.

Defense Minister Hatami said Iran’s missile capability was being used as “an unworthy and baseless pretext” for an offensive against the country. “The Iranian nation will not allow any foreign power to intervene in its military and defensive programs.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Dubai at lnasseri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Stuart Biggs

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