Rouhani: Missile Program Not Up for Talks

President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Tehran’s missile program was non-negotiable and that US President-elect Joe Biden is “well aware of it”.
Biden’s victory has raised the possibility that Washington could rejoin a deal Iran reached with six world powers in 2015, and he appears to see a return as a prelude to wider talks on Iran’s nuclear work, its ballistic missiles and regional activities.
However, Tehran has ruled out halting its missile program or changing its regional policy, and instead has demanded a change in US policy, including the lifting of sanctions and compensation for the economic losses inflicted by the US withdrawal from the nuclear accord.  
“The Americans were trying for months to add the missile issue [to the talks that led to the 2015 nuclear deal] and this was rejected. [US President Donald] Trump was uninformed and did not know about the matter, but Mr. Biden is well aware of the details of the deal,” Rouhani told a press conference in Tehran, President.ir reported.
“I have not heard Biden say that we have to reach another agreement in order to return to the nuclear deal; that is what Trump says,” he added.
Iran has pursued a missile program as a vital deterrent and defense measure to ward off belligerent US moves and the hostile actions of regional adversaries.
For its part, the West sees Iran’s missiles both as a conventional military threat to regional stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons, an objective that Tehran says will never pursue. 
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have risen since 2018, when Trump abandoned the nuclear deal and reimposed harsh economic sanctions to pressure Tehran into negotiating stricter curbs on its nuclear program, ballistic missile development and support for regional allies.

Row With Turkey 

In addition, Rouhani said Tehran could move past a diplomatic row with Turkey over a poem recited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Azerbaijan, which Tehran had considered undermining its territorial integrity.
Iran summoned Turkey’s envoy last week after Erdogan recited an Azeri-Iranian poem lamenting the 19th-century division of Azerbaijan’s territory between Russia and Iran. Tehran appeared concerned his remarks questioned Iran’s territorial integrity and could fan separatist tendencies among its Azeri minority.
“In my opinion, with the explanations given [by Turkish officials], we can move beyond this issue, but the sensitivity of our people is very important,” Rouhani said.
“Based on my past knowledge of Mr. Erdogan, it is very unlikely that he had any intention of insulting our territorial integrity. He always recites poetry in his speeches.”
Azeris are the largest minority in Iran and millions live in an Iranian region that shares the same name as the independent state of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet Republic. Azeris speak a language very similar to Turkish, while most of them adhere to Shia Islam.
Turkey has become a close ally of Azerbaijan, helping it make major territorial gains against Armenians in a war that ended with a ceasefire last month.