Iran rebuffs French FM demands to curb missiles

TEHRAN: Iran rebuffed French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s calls to curb its missile programme after a day of tense discussions in Tehran on Monday aimed at salvaging its historic nuclear deal.

Le Drian said there was “still a lot of work to do” on Iran’s missile programme after meeting with top officials, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Zarif countered that Europe needed to “play a more constructive role to preserve” the nuclear deal.

“And above all to put pressure on the United States to meet its commitments under the deal and not to allow it to present illogical and illegal demands,” Zarif added, according to an account by the foreign ministry.

The visit comes in the midst of a scramble by European governments to salvage the 2015 deal after US President Donald Trump threatened he would abandon it unless tough new restrictions were placed on Iran before May 12.

Rouhani issued a statement after meeting Le Drian, saying: “Preserving the nuclear accord will prove to the world that negotiation and diplomacy are the best option for solving problems, while its collapse will signify that political negotiations are a waste of time.”

Le Drian has insisted he is not “an emissary of Trump”, but he has taken a firm line on Iran’s missile programme and regional interventions that mirrors the rhetoric from Washington.“There are programmes for missiles with ranges of several thousand kilometres which are not in line with UN Security Council resolutions and go beyond what is needed to secure Iran’s borders,” Le Drian told Le Journal du Dimanche on the eve of his visit.

France has ballistic missiles with ranges of more than 6,000 kilometres, which can be launched from submarines, but Le Drian said Iran was risking fresh sanctions if it did not curb its missile programme, which is currently limited to 2,000 kilometres.

His statements have not been warmly received in Iran, with Zarif telling Monday’s reformist Etemad newspaper: “In order to keep the United States in the Iran nuclear deal, European countries are suffering from extremism and this will ultimately undermine Europe’s policy.”The hardline Javan newspaper welcomed Le Drian with the headline: “Trump’s Parisian lackey in Tehran”.Le Drian also pressed Iran on the activities of its ally, the Syrian government, amid the ongoing bombardment of civilians in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.