Iran says defense, missile program not open to negotiations

Young journalists club

News ID: 15712
Iran » Iran
Publish Date: 15:01 - 13 November 2017
TEHRAN, November 13 - Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said that Iran would not negotiate with any country over its defense and missile program.

Iran says defense, missile program not open to negotiationsTEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - “We will not hold talks on our country’s missile and defense program with any country or group,” he said on Tuesday.

This is the fundamental position and right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pursue its defense issues given regional circumstances, he said.

Iranian officials have frequently stressed that the country’s defense and missile program are not open to negotiations.

On October 23, Iranian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Es’haq Al-e Habib said the country’s missile program is not open to negotiation and will continue with strength and according to the Islamic Republic’s national defense agenda.

Speaking at a UN committee, Al-e Habib added that Iran's missile program was only meant for defense and deterrence and accuracy of its missiles was proportionate to threats faced by the country.

“Iran’s missile program has been designed to meet the country’s defensive and security needs and it is impossible to make any comment about it without taking our security environment into consideration,” he said.

Resolution 2231 was adopted on July 20, 2015 to endorse the historic nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in the same year.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

US President Donald Trump on October 13 refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement.

While Trump did not pull Washington out of the nuclear deal, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Reimposing sanctions would put the US at odds with other signatories to the accord and the European Union.

Trump also said his goal was to ensure that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, adding, "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout."

Source: Presstv

 

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