Iran president Rouhani says country will increase missile capabilities after ‘ignorant’ Trump speech

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has told the country’s armed forces he will boost their missile capabilities, according to state media.

He said the country would not be seeking permission from anyone to “defend” itself.

Mr Rouhani’s comments came after an inflammatory speech by US President Donald Trump at the United Nations, in which he verbally attacked Iran, along with North Korea.

Speaking at a parade commemorating the country’s bloody war with Iraq, Mr Rouhani said: “We will increase our military power as a deterrent.

“We will strengthen our missile capabilities … We will not seek permission from anyone to defend our country.”

Mr Rouhani also said Tehran would keep supporting the “oppressed people of Yemen, Syria and Palestine”, a reference to Iran’s role in wars in Yemen and Syria and support for Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

During his debut UN speech, Mr Trump called Iran a “murderous regime” and said the 2015 nuclear deal with the country was an “embarrassment”.

The agreement, in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of economic sanctions, was hailed as a major step forward in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

But Mr Trump has long derided the deal, and frequently cited it during his election campaign as an example of how American power was being lost.

Mr Rouhani has maintained it cannot be renegotiated.

He branded Mr Trump a “rogue newcomer” to international relations and said his approach to the deal was “ignorant and absurd”.

Tensions have been increasing between the US and Iran since Mr Trump took power, though much of his focus has so far been on North Korea.

But analysts fear his rhetoric on Iran has “reinforced the impression that he plans to take action to undermine the [nuclear] deal”.