Conservative media and politicians in Iran have praised North Korea’s unveiling of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which can – theoretically – hit targets across the United States.
On Tuesday, the Javan daily, which is affiliated to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), hailed the move as a deterrent against US military action towards Pyongyang.
According to Javan, North Korea’s access to new intercontinental ballistic technology means that the US president will have to negotiate with Kim Jong-un, regardless of who wins the upcoming presidential election.
Javan reported: “What proves the correctness of Pyongyang’s logic in expanding its [ballistic] missiles is that even the Democrats, who had criticised [Donald] Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un, are now obliged to think of sitting at the negotiation table with North Korea.
“Officials in Pyongyang know that if Americans decide to negotiate with North Korea, that would be out of the fear of the missiles that can hit the US territory, and not a result of [the] diplomacy of trust and smile.”
Javan blamed President Hassan Rouhani’s administration for creating a “missiles vs livelihood” dichotomy in Iran’s political discourse.
“Harsh sanctions which have added difficulty to the life of North Koreans, did not force Pyongyang to deploy a humiliating ‘missiles vs livelihood’ dichotomy,” it concluded.
The report on North Korea struck a chord with right-wing politicians and their supporters in Iran.
In 2015, Tehran signed a deal with international powers in which it curbed its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. But the US unilaterally withdrew from that agreement in 2018.
As a result, hardliners in Iran have pressured Rouhani, a moderate, to resume the country’s nuclear programme and to invest more in its ballistic missiles programme.
“If we had the same missiles, the US would have not dared to impose sanctions on us … let alone talk of military attack [against Iran],” one Iranian social media user wrote on Twitter.
Source » middleeasteye