His president wanted to send a message to, but also in all directions, during his visit to Islamabad and the joint press conference with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, arguing that the country’s ballistic missiles were not part of the Memorandum of Understanding with the US and that, as he emphasized, they will never be included in any future agreement.
Speaking alongside Sharif, the Iranian president underlined that Tehran does not intend to negotiate its defense capabilities with any country. At the same time, he said that stability in the region can only be achieved through sincere dialogue and cooperation between the states of the region.
Pezeskian reiterated that Iran’s defense policy is an exclusively internal affair of the country and cannot be the subject of external negotiations.
Endorsed by Shehbaz Sharif
For his part, Shehbaz Sharif stood in favor of the principle of parity in the issue of ballistic weapon systems, arguing that “double standards” cannot be applied. As he said, Iran has the same right as any other state to have such weapons.
Sharif also added that there was no mention of ballistic missiles in the Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States, as the specific issue was never raised in the negotiations.
