Negotiator: Iran’s Defense Issues Not Negotiable
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – One of Iran’s top nuclear negotiators emphasized that the issues related to Iran’s defense and missile capabilities are not “negotiable” and will never be discussed in the nuclear talks with six world powers.
“Our country’s missile program is completely defensive in nature and the Islamic Republic of Iran in no way considers the defense issues negotiable and will not talk about them with any foreign party,” Seyed Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday.
"Accordingly, Iran has never allowed and will never allow in the future that the country’s defense and missile power be mooted or come under discussion within the framework of Iran’s nuclear talks with the Group 5+1," he underlined.
He made the remarks in response to recent comments raised by US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki who said Iran’s missile program will be discussed in nuclear negotiations.
She also said that the issue of “how to deal with the ballistic missile capabilities of delivering nuclear warheads has been discussed and will continue to be discussed as part of the negotiations.”
The issue was raised after Iran on Monday successfully launched and put the domestically-made Fajr (Dawn) satellite into orbit.