DUBAI -  Iran will ask “no one’s permission” to build up its missile capability, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, in what appeared to be a defiant response to US efforts to hamper the Iranian military.

Facing an election in May where he hopes to secure a second four-year term, Rouhani has had to defend himself from opponents who say he has been too eager to appease the West, after agreeing to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

US President Donald Trump has criticised the nuclear deal and said during his election campaign he would stop Iran’s missile programme. After Iran test-fired a new ballistic missile in January, Trump tweeted that it was “playing with fire”.

Addressing an event showcasing some locally built military hardware, broadcast on state TV, Rouhani said: “The strengthening of the capability of the Iranian armed forces ... is only for defending the country and we will ask no one’s permission to build up the armed forces, and to build missiles and aircraft.”

He said Iran has never had “aggressive aims, but peace is not a one-way road and if we decide to be peaceful the other party ... may not. So there is a need for vigilance.” A bill to impose new sanctions on Iran over ballistic missile launches and other non-nuclear activities has been delayed in the US Senate due to concerns about the presidential election. Iran says its missile tests are not covered by the nuclear deal.

Iran election sign-up closes

with mayor’s last-minute entry

Registration for next month’s Iranian presidential election closed on Saturday, with more than 1,600 hopefuls signing up, including a last-minute entry by Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

The 55-year-old conservative mayor had given mixed signals about whether he would make a third bid for the presidency, but showed up at the interior ministry just before the deadline for registration.

There was also a surprise last-minute entry from first vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri, a close confidante of President Hassan Rouhani who registered on Friday.

It is assumed Jahangiri, a 60-year-old reformist, is running to offer an alternative in case Rouhani is disqualified by the Guardian Council, which vets the candidates. Others speculate he could be trying to raise his profile ahead of a more concerted bid in 2021.

“Rouhani and I are side-by-side,” Jahangiri told reporters. Rouhani, a politically moderate cleric who has stabilised the economy and overseen a partial rapprochement with the West, is widely seen as the man to beat, although there is little polling in Iran and past elections have thrown up major surprises.

His main challenger is considered to be hardline cleric and judge Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who also signed up on Friday. In total, 1,636 people registered, including 137 women.

Almost all will be disqualified over the coming fortnight by the Guardian Council, which is controlled by religious conservatives. The council has never permitted a woman to run.

Around half a dozen candidates are normally approved, with the campaign set to start on April 28 and the vote on May 19.

Ghalibaf was the runner-up to Rouhani in 2013. He is a war veteran, former Revolutionary Guards commander and police chief, who was picked by a grouping of conservatives as one of their top choices last week, along with Raisi.

With much of the focus this year on Iran’s stagnant economy, he told reporters at the registration that he would create five million jobs and more than double Iran’s revenues.

The biggest surprise from this week’s registration was the appearance of former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 60, who shocked everyone by signing up against the advice of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.