FM:

Renegotiation of JCPOA Impossible

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined that the European Union (EU) has some standards, based on which, it is not possible to review the nuclear agreement reached between Tehran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany).

News ID: 68306

Date: 27 January 2018 - 15:35

"We are expecting the EU to support the nuclear deal because the international community is expecting the same as well," Zarif said.

He, meantime, pointed to Iran’s missile program, and said that Iran spends the least on weapons as compared with other regional countries.

"Saudi Arabia has missiles with higher range than ours. These missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, while our missiles are not designed so. Saudi missiles are Chinese intercontinental ones with a range of 2,500 kilometers. The main features of such missiles have a range of 12,000 kilometers," Zarif added.

However, he added, Iran has missiles that are not capable of carrying nuclear warheads and their maximum range is 2,000 kilometers.

The Iranian foreign minister also noted that "we will not use these missiles against any country, and we have announced we will only use them in case of being attacked.”

Zarif’s remarks came after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Iran of not respecting part of the UN Resolution 2231, which calls on Tehran to refrain from working on ballistic missiles.

Later, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, emphasized that Tehran’s missile program and defense capabilities would by no means be subject to negotiations.

Iranian Government spokesman Mohammad Nobakht also said at his weekly conference last Tuesday that Tehran “will not negotiate with any party over its missile capabilities”.