Iran rejects US claims on missile programme as 'big lies'

Iran's foreign ministry on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump claimed Tehran was developing missiles that can strike the United States.

"Whatever they're alleging in regards to Iran's nuclear programme, Iran's ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January's unrest, is simply the repetition of 'big lies'," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on X.

Baqaei did not specify exactly which claims he was responding to, but hours earlier Trump had said Iran was seeking missiles that could reach American soil.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in February, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran lacked the capability to target the US but would attack American bases in the Middle East if Washington launched a strike.

During his State of the Union speech, Trump also reiterated that Iran would never be allowed to build a nuclear weapon, saying that Tehran's leaders were "at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions".

Iran has repeatedly denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon but insists it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The US president also claimed that Iranian authorities killed 32,000 people during a wave of protests that started in December and peaked on January 8 and 9.

Iranian officials acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by "terrorist acts" fuelled by the United States and Israel.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.