Qassemi on Friday firmly rejected a Reuters report quoting unnamed Iranian and
Western officials as saying that Iran has signaled to the six world powers with
which it signed the historic nuclear agreement in 2015 that it is open to talks
about its ballistic missile arsenal.
"Iran regards defensive missile programs as its absolute right and will
definitely continue them within the framework of its defensive, conventional and
specified plans and strategies,” the Iranian spokesperson said.
He added that Iran "has repeatedly in diplomatic meetings with foreign
officials” emphasized that its "defensive missile program is not negotiable” and
that Tehran "does not regard it as inconsistent with [UN Security Council]
Resolution 2231.”
In all his meetings and interviews with international media on the sidelines of
last month’s 72th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York,
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated the non-negotiable
nature of the Islamic Republic’s defensive missile program.
According to the Reuters report, the sources said that given US President Donald
Trump’s threats to ditch the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, Tehran had
approached the powers recently about possible talks on some "dimensions” of its
missile program.
Source: Press TV