Iran’s Student News Network (SNN) has quoted the country’s Defence Minister Amir Hatami as saying that Tehran is considering selling more domestically made weapons as an arms embargo against the Islamic Republic expires in October.
According to Hatami, Iran remains among a handful of countries which are able to indigenously manufacture more than 90 percent of its military hardware.
“We will surely be able to export more military equipment than we need to import. Therefore, we will surely use our legal right [to sell arms] in dealing with our allies once the restrictions are lifted”, the defence minister pointed out, referring to the upcoming expiration of the arms embargo.
The remarks come a few weeks after the UN Security Council (UNSC) said “no” to a draft resolution introduced by Washington to indefinitely prolong the weapons embargo on Tehran envisioned by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ahead of its expiration on 18 October.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the UNSC rejection of the American resolution, pledging that the Trump administration would continue to do its best to ensure that Iran is not able to buy and sell weapons on the international market.
Tehran's Permanent Envoy to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi, in turn, pointed out that the results of the vote "shows—once more—the US' isolation”, urging Washington “to learn from this debacle”.
The Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stipulates Tehran scaling back its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. President Donald Trump announced the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, prompting Tehran to step away from its nuclear commitments.