Commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army, Ataollah Salehi. He said Iran plans to continue developing its missile program and the country’s “enemies” should feel threatened. Photo: Wikipedia.

JNS.org – Iran plans to continue developing its missile program, but only the Islamic Republic’s “enemies” should feel threatened, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army said.

“Our missile program is not a threat against our friends, but it is a threat against our enemies. Israel should understand what it means,” Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi said, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported Thursday.

Although last summer’s nuclear deal did not lift sanctions against Iran’s missile program, Salehi said the program “will become stronger. We do not pay attention and do not implement resolutions against Iran, and this is not a violation of the nuclear deal.”

Most international sanctions on Iran were lifted by the nuclear deal, but a United Nations Security Council resolution barred the country from working on ballistic missiles for eight years. Ballistic missiles are a delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons. Iran, however, already violated the U.N. resolution by conducting a missile test last October.