Iran will reassess relations with European states if they decide to impose new sanctions against the country over its missile program, a senior official said late Friday, after France issued new threats of restrictive measures.
“Any new sanctions by European countries would lead to a reevaluation by Iran of its interactions with those states,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in a statement reported by ISNA.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had earlier said that his country was ready to impose further sanctions on Iran if no progress was made in talks over its ballistic missile program, Reuters reported.
Le Drian, who recently reiterated support for a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent US sanctions, said France wanted to see Tehran rein in its missile activity.
“We are ready, if the talks don’t yield results, to apply sanctions firmly, and they know it,” the senior French diplomat told reporters.
Qasemi said threats by Paris are against the “spirit of political dialogue and cooperation” between the two countries, pledging that Tehran will continue to build up its defense and deterrent capabilities.
“Iran’s missile capability is not negotiable and this has been conveyed to the French side during political negotiations being held between Iran and France on a regular basis,” he said.
"Iran’s missile activities are only defensive in nature. It has always sought promotion of peace and stability in the region and believes that the massive sales of advanced and offensive weapons by the United States and some European countries such as France [to regional countries] have destabilized the region.”
UN Resolution
A UN Security Council resolution enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in which Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment program in exchange for an end to international sanctions.
The resolution says Iran is “called upon” to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran denies its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Last May, US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal, approved before he took office, and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, saying it was flawed as it neither addressed ballistic missiles, nor Iran’s regional policies.
The European signatories to the deal stuck with it. But US sanctions over dollar transactions have made investors wary about doing business with Iran, something the European-backed special purpose vehicle is meant to tackle.
Diplomats previously told Reuters that new sanctions being considered by EU countries could include asset freezes and travel bans on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and people involved in the missile program.
