Iran rejects mediation of France; says nuclear deal not negotiable

Tehran, November 12: Iran on Saturday rejected the mediation of France in nuclear deals saying it is non-negotiable. The statement of Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi came in response to remarks made by the French president Emmanuel Macron who called for vigilance regarding Tehran, its ballistic missile programme and regional activities during an interview with UAE newspaper Al Ittihad.

 

While replying to this statement, Bahram Ghassemi said, "We have told French leaders on several occasions that the Iran nuclear deal is not negotiable and that no other issues can be included in the text." “France is fully aware of our country's intangible position concerning the issue of Iran's defensive affairs which are not negotiable," he added.

Earlier, in the interview with Al-Ittihad, published during Macron's 1-day visit to Abu Dhabi, the French president said, "It is important to remain firm with Iran over its regional activities and its ballistic programme." Macron also said there was no immediate alternative to the Iranian nuclear deal, which curbs Iran's nuclear programme.

Notably, France has been trying to reinstate 2015 nuclear which Iran signed with six world powers including Britain, China, Germany, France, Russia and the United States. Importantly, Iran's nuclear deal saw sanctions imposed on Tehran lifted in exchange for limits on its atomic programme.

However, Macron in last month said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call that France remained committed to the deal but also stressed on the necessity to have a dialogue with Iran on other strategic issues, including Tehran's ballistic missile programme.

On the other side, the United States said the missile fired at Saudi Arabia last week was supplied by Iran. Washington has also called for the UN to hold Tehran accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions. Further, Saudi Arabia and its allies also have been accusing Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthi rebels, saying the arms were not present in Yemen before the conflict broke out in 2015. Meanwhile, Iran denies the charges and blames the conflict on Riyadh. Tehran said it has no plans to build nuclear-capable missiles and the missile programme is for defence purposes.