Iran reacts to France’s demand for missile talks, reminding the EU of its JCPOA commitments

Tabnak – While trying to keep Iran in the 2015 nuclear deal after the US withdrawal, the European parties of the deal sporadically make claims on the necessity of widening the scope of negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Iran once again reiterates its red line, not to negotiate on its defense capabilities.

In this vein, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi criticized French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s Thursday remarks about Iran’s missile program and said such “unwarranted concerns” are rooted in his “wrong perceptions” of the program.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly declared its clear and transparent stance on unwarranted concerns rooted in some countries’ wrong perceptions and ignorance,” Qassemi said in a statement on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always shown that it has never been fearful of dialogue and negotiation and that it believes in it,” he said.

However, in a situation that the outcome of all efforts of Iran and other world powers (the 2015 nuclear deal) is violated by “the bullying and excessive demands” of France’s partners, there is no reason for Iran to trust and negotiate on “nonnegotiable issues”, the spokesman added.

Le Drian told a Thursday gathering of EU foreign ministers in Vienna that Iran must respect the fundamentals of the 2015 nuclear deal and should be prepared to negotiate on its future nuclear plans, ballistic missile arsenal and alleged meddling in conflicts across the Middle East.

Iran "cannot avoid discussions, negotiations on three other major subjects that worry us — the future of Iran’s nuclear commitments after 2025, the ballistic question and the fact that there is a sort of ballistic proliferation on the part of Iran… and the role Iran plays to stabilize the whole region," he said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says complying with the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers “in deeds and not just words is not Iran's only option”.

“If preserving JCPOA is the goal, then there is no escape from mustering the courage to comply with commitment to normalize Iran's economic relations instead of making extraneous demands. Being the party to still honor the deal in deeds & not just words is not Iran's only option,” Zarif said in a message posted on his Twitter account on Thursday.

It should be noted that the European Union has vowed to counter US President Donald Trump’s renewed sanctions on Iran, including by means of a new law to shield European companies from punitive measures.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country. Trump also restated his opinion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a “horrible, one-sided deal”.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.