Iran’s domestic missile program irrelevant to foreigners

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said "exchange of prisoners of war and corpses, and mine-clearance are the two main topics of agenda in Astana talks."

The Iranian diplomat, who was speaking Monday morning, recounted that the expert level talks have kicked off before the main meetings get into gear in the next couple of days.

"I hope we reach the necessary agreements, the same way we succeeded in the 6th edition of talks to take necessary steps for establishing peace and stability in Syria,” highlighted Mr. Ghasemi.

"Foreign ministry official can have meetings and talks with foreign figures about different issues and this is something natural in diplomatic arena,” said the Iranian diplomat when asked about Deputy FM Mr. Araghchi’s talks with European officials over missile issues. The speculations were made in social network media.

"Our stance in regard with the missile issue is quite clear and we will negotiate over this subject with nobody, because it is a domestic issue and not related to any other figure or country,” reiterated Mr. Ghasemi.

The Iranian diplomat pointed to the past to justify why the Iranian establishment is so determined about defensive capabilities. "The broken promises, malevolence, and the Imposed War taught us never to compromise over defensive capabilities and strengthen ourselves in this area,” maintained Mr. Ghasemi. "Iran’s missile policy will still stay in place because it is a defensive policy, not offensive,” reassured the diplomat. 

He underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran has learned its lesson from the past and will stand up for its defense and the missile program solely as a means of deterrence.

"Those countries which project over Iran’s missile program would better take heed of how much arm and weaponry is owned by the countries of the region,” stressed the Iranian diplomat. "They would better take a look at their defense budget and compare it with Iran’s defense budget,” said Mr. Ghasemi.

"I think Iran is one of those countries with lowest amount of budget, put on defense because Iran is one of those countries which draws its strength from within and is reliant upon itself,” he asserted.

Pointing to Riyadh alliance about Yemen and the recent anti-Iranian remarks of Jubair, Mr. Ghasemi asserted that Iran’s stance in regard with the issue of Yemen is quite clear. "Since the start of the aggression against Yemen we roll out the necessary warnings to the countries of the region and the main players of the crisis,” He highlighted.

Regarding the recent remarks made by US President Trump, he said "today the world is standing against Trump and, on the issue of JCPOA, we hear a united global voice in support of the deal and in opposition to Tramp’s policies," adding that the US president "is getting more isolated day by day.”

The Iranian official said that the Foreign Ministry will do its best to remove obstacles created by Washington in the way of foreign investment in the Iranian market.