On Monday, Iran said it is more inclined to sell weapons rather than buy them, after it announced the end of a longstanding UN conventional arms embargo.
Tehran said the ban imposed more than a decade ago was lifted automatically as of Sunday, based on the terms of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, from which the Islamic republic’s arch-enemy the United States has withdrawn.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters: “Before being a buyer in the arms market, Iran has the ability to supply other countries.”
He said: Of course, Iran is not like the United States, whose president seeks to sell deadly weapons to slaughter the Yemeni people, referring to US weapons purchased by Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition in Yemen fighting Huthi rebels backed by Tehran.
According to Khatibzadeh, Iran will act responsibly and sell weapons to other countries based on its own calculations.
The embargo on the sale of arms to Iran was due to start expiring progressively from October 18, under the terms of the UN resolution that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal.