Iranian Official Says Tehran Has Sovereign Right to Boost Its Defense Capability

Iran has a soverign right to work on strengthening its defense capability, ballistic misile tests are part of the country's defense strategy, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, assistant to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statement comes as Tehran announced that the sanctions imposed on Iran by the White House were "illegal," and that in retaliation they would impose legal restrictions on American individuals and entities that are assisting "regional terrorist groups."

Larijani expressed his belief that military maneuvers and tests of advanced missiles in Iran is "an internal affair aimed at strengthening the country's defense capability."

"Iran's defense policy is an internal affair of the country. Considering a difficult situation in today's world, we are working diligently on strengthening our defense capability," Abdollahian said in an exclusive interview with RT Arabic.

Ealier in the day, the US imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran for conducting a ballistic missile test. The US Treasury Department blacklisted 25 entities and individuals.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer also said in his daily press briefing on Friday that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran is not in the best interest of Washington.

Iran’s Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan confirmed on Wednesday a successful test of a medium-range ballistic missile on January 29.