Roundup: Khamenei says Iran against possession, proliferation of WMDs

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Iran should grow powerful militarily, and in the meantime, he is against the possession and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

"We consider restrictions on the expansion of our defense industry," Khamenei said, according to the supreme leader's website. "The WMDs, such as chemical weapons and nuclear weapons, are forbidden based on our religious beliefs."

Iran had been under the sanction pressures of the West over its nuclear program for years. The western countries suspected of weapon grade dimensions of Iran's nuclear activities; however, the Islamic republic said it was against the WMDs and its nuclear program was for civilian purposes.

The Iranian leader stressed the increase in Iran's "defensive and aggressive" power as an "inalienable right of the country" in the face of threats and insecurity in the world.

"Iran will be secure when the powers feel the might of the country," he was quoted as saying.

Khamenei disapproved of what he called the "anger" of the western countries over Iran's purchase of some defensive weapons, and said that they are talking of "moral goodness" for possessing advanced weapons, while "they themselves are not committed to any moral codes."

Iran recently imported the long-awaited S-300 air defense system from Russia, but some western comments cast doubts on whether S-300 sale to Iran was against the UN Security Council's resolutions about military deals with the Islamic republic.

Besides, the White House has been critical of Iran's missile program and considers it as a threat to regional and international peace.

However, Iran has reiterated that its missile program is totally for peaceful purposes and no measure can strip the Islamic republic of its legitimate and legal right to boost its defensive capabilities and safeguard national security.

"The United States lacks any moral qualifications to talk about the Islamic republic," Khamenei said Wednesday, adding that both of the main political parties in the U.S. "suffer from lack of moral qualifications, since both of them have committed myriad of crimes" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Khamenei accused the U.S. Democratic Party of supporting terrorist groups, saying that "the capital sin of the ruling party in the U.S. administration is creation of dangerous terror network" in the world.

"We are facing these governments in the U.S., and it would be a "mistake" to think that Iran and the U.S. would reach an "understanding and common point," he said.

"My insistence on avoiding negotiations with the U.S. is based on the experience that the Americans are after imposing their demands rather than reaching an understanding in the talks," he added.

Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., reached an agreement in July 2015 over Tehran's nuclear program after almost one and half years of intensive negotiations.

Iran later said that it would not sit with the U.S. to discuss other prickly matters between them. Endit