Iran on Monday said it is more inclined to sell weapons rather than buy them after it announced the end of a longstanding UN conventional arms embargo, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.
The UN ban on Iran’s arms trade expired on Oct. 18.
Iran and “some countries’’ have already had negotiations over the exchange of weapons, for selling and supplying certain needs, the minister Amir Hatami was quoted as saying.
READ ALSO: Merkel to Address Asia-Pacific Conference on Relations With China
All nations have the right to defend their territorial integrity and “Iran will do its utmost in this regard,” he said.
Hatami noted that Iran produces most of its defence demands within the country and its trade will mainly be oriented for weapons sales.
“Iran has made notable advances in the production of ground ordnance, artillery, military ships, submarines, and particularly drone technology,” he pointed out.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, the UN arms embargo against Iran expired on Oct. 18.