As Tehran and P5+1 officials talk up the chances of a nuclear agreement, Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said his country’s missile-development program is not up for negotiations.

Iranian defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, said that the country will never accept any intervention from the western side on the issue.

The statement is part of Iran’s latest muscle-flexing exercise, which includes armed-forces maneuvers and a public-relations campaign focused on the Islamic republic’s self-perceived military strength.

The country’s air-defense systems are now fully ready to take on any challenges, according to Air Defense Brig.-Gen. Alireza Sabahifard.

We monitor the airspace of the country day and night and we will not allow anyone or anything to violate our country’s airspace.

Meanwhile Iran’s border guards are staging military exercises in western Iran this week. The drills are taking place in the provinces of Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Ilam, Kordestan, and West Azarbaijan.

Marking National Army Day on April 16, Maj.-Gen. Ataollah Salehi promised the army would not only up its defenses against “foreign threats” from military powers but also have “widespread and influential presence in the sphere of soft war.”

Iran believes it is the subject of a cultural war in which the West attempts to infiltrate Iran via culture and modern ideas. For Salehi and his colleagues this is unacceptable.

now in the fields of economy and culture, with a firm determination and drawing upon Jihadi management and the pious youth, would perpetuate 35 years of indefatigable service, that has been achieved by 48,000 martyrs, and with emphasis upon the spiritual preparation and improved level of defense systems in terms of quality and quantity based on Resistance Economy, will continue its effective presence in cultural and soft warfare fields as before.

[Photo: Cowicide/flickr]