Iran rejects limits on missile power

"Iran will not accept any restrictions on its missile activities. The recent aggression demonstrated clearly that without Iran’s military capabilities, the other side would never have been compelled to request a ceasefire," Amir Saeed Iravani said in an interview with Al-Monitor news website on Friday, Press TV reported.

"One of the key reasons a ceasefire has not been observed in Gaza — or has not been enforced by the occupying regime in Lebanon — is that the retaliatory power of the resistance groups has not yet reached a level sufficient to bring the real heat on the regime or make it vulnerable," he said.

"By contrast, Iran’s forceful military response inflicted serious pain on the regime’s social, political, and economic sections," Iravani added.

The Iranian ambassador touched on US President Donald Trump's acknowledgement that the damage inflicted on Israel was "so severe, in fact, that it became one of the decisive factors prompting the regime to request that the United States expedite a ceasefire".

"Therefore, Iran will never agree to relinquish such an effective strategic lever, nor will it allow itself to be disarmed in the face of potential future attacks," Iravani said.

While the Zionist regime waged a war of aggression against Iran on June 13 and struck Iran’s military, nuclear, and residential areas for 12 days, the US stepped in and conducted military attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran’s Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan on June 22.

The Iranian military forces conducted powerful counterattacks immediately after the aggression. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force carried out 22 waves of retaliatory missile strikes against the Zionist regime as part of Operation True Promise III, which inflicted heavy losses on cities across the occupied territories.

A ceasefire that came into force on June 24 has brought the fighting to a halt./mehr