31 August 2018•Update: 01 September 2018
ANKARA
Iran on Friday rejected French calls to enter negotiations aimed at curbing its ballistic missile program and its expanding regional influence.
In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi said Iran’s ballistic missile program was “vital” to its defensive capabilities.
“Our missile program is purely defensive,” he said. “It’s not up for negotiation.”
On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called on Iran to enter into negotiations over its ballistic missile program and its waxing regional influence, both of which have grown in recent years.
Le Drian made the appeal in Vienna, where he attended an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
In his Friday statement, Qasimi insisted that Tehran’s regional policies were aimed at promoting peace and fighting terrorism.
Pointing to the U.S. administration’s recent withdrawal from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Qasimi said Washington’s “excessive” demands had “damaged the trust” needed for talks.
In mid-2015, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).
The agreement placed tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
In May of this year, however, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement in a move heavily criticized by the deal’s European signatories.
Washington then re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which primarily target the country’s banking sector.
EU states, for their part, have urged Tehran to remain a party to the agreement, although Iran has yet to respond to these calls.
On Friday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani as saying that Tehran remained unconvinced of the EU’s ability to meet its obligations as laid out in the 2015 deal.
Reporting by Ahmet Dursun and Tolga Akbaba:Writing by Cansu Dikme
