Iran’s missile programme is non-negotiable in any talks between the Islamic republic and the world powers, a senior air force official said.

“They (Westerners) would have denied Iran such capability if they could,” Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Aerospace Force, said, Xinhua reported citing Tasnim news agency. “But our missile power is non-negotiable,” he added.

He said the West’s insistence that Iran’s ballistic missiles should become a subject of negotiations was a testimony to the country’s good capabilities in that sphere.

His comments came as a trilateral meeting involving US Secretary of State John Kerry, European Union envoy Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif is ongoing in Muscat, Oman.

The two-day meeting, which started Sunday, comes just two weeks before the Nov 24 deadline for a comprehensive deal on the controversial nuclear programme of Iran.