During the meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Tehran on Monday ,Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani underlined the need for the European states to speed up full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, warning them not to be influenced by President Trump's psychological game.
"The logic behind any international agreement is the support of all sides and the international community for it and demanding one side to stay committed, while showing indifference to another side's defiance is not acceptable," Shamkhani said
He also welcomed expansion of bilateral political and economic ties between Tehran and Paris, and stressed the necessity for accelerating removal of remaining obstacles on the way of banking exchanges after the nuclear deal.
"Failure of the nuclear deal will discredit international agreements and the logic of talks to resolve the global issues," Shamkhani said.
"Europe's policy of making concessions to the US to keep it in the nuclear deal is incorrect and means passivity and surrendering to Trump's psychological game," he added.
Elsewhere, Shamkhani warned that the presence and free activities of terrorist groups, specially Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) terrorist group, which act against the Islamic Republic of Iran is against Paris' international responsibility for campaign against terrorism and will not play a positive role in strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.
He also described reinvigoration of Iran's defense capabilities, specially the missile power, as an inevitable necessity of its deterrence policy, and said, "Iran's defense power is no threat to any country and its development is not affected by the political factors and depends on the security needs and potential threats against the country."
Shamkhani, meantime, referred to the recent draft resolution proposed by certain European states on Yemen which criticized Iran for alleged supply of missiles to the country, and blasted the western states for their indifference to the massacre and violation of human rights in Yemen.
Le Drian, for his part, appreciated Iran for its active implementation of the nuclear deal, and said, "The French government underlines the necessity for all signatories of the nuclear deal to remain committed to their undertakings and thinks that the US positions will lead to fragility of the international agreement and is opposed to it."
However, He also said that new solutions will soon be announced to seriously facilitate the banking relations between Iran and France.
'We are fully acquainted with Iran's history, power as well as the country's capabilities and believe that in the post-JCPOA era the prospects of political and economic cooperation between the two countries is very promising,' French FM said.French government believes that all sides should remain committed to their pledges with regards to the JCPOA, but the stances adopted by the US might dissolve the international treaty and Paris strongly is opposed to such move, he said.
The meeting was held one day after the Iranian foreign ministry dismissed the French officials' alleged concerns about the country's missile program and regional influence, stressing that Tehran will continue its defense policies independently.
"Iran's positions about the remarks sometimes heard from certain French statespersons or raised in the media are fully transparent and clear," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi told FNA on Sunday.
His remarks came after France’s foreign ministry claimed on Sunday that Iran’s ballistic missile program was a major concern, a day before Le Drian arrived in Tehran.
Qassemi referred to the Iraqi-imposed war against Iran (1980-1988), and said, "Iran has gained experiences (from that war) and learned that it should defend itself to the necessary and conventional extent and develop such a high capability that others do not even think of aggression against Iranian territories again."
He described Iran's defense program fully defensive and deterrent in nature to safeguard the country's territorial integrity, independence and freedom, and said, "This policy and our missile program are no violation of the UN resolutions and rules."
Qassemi blasted attempts to link Iranian missiles to other issues, including the nuclear deal, as a deviating and irrational move by enemies, and said, "We will continue our national policies in the missile and defense issues … and we will not take permission from anyone on how to regulate these policies and will not allow any country to interfere in such issues and Iran's policies and (will not allow them to) hold talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran on such cases."
He also referred to the French foreign minister's threats of new sanctions against Iran, and said, "Even the public opinion knows that the era of sanctions and threats ended long time ago."
The top French diplomat was greeted by a group of protesters as his flight touched down at Tehran's Mehrabad airport mid-night Sunday.
They carried placards which read "Iran is not Libya", in an apparent reference to France's role in NATO's bombing of the African country and the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
Le Drian was to hold meetings with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, with Iran's Foreign Ministry expecting "frank" negotiations. "We certainly have to have absolutely frank talks with the French foreign minister regarding the JCPOA," ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the 2016 nuclear deal with Iran.
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