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IRAN-FRANCE-DIPLOMACY-SANCTION
Iran accuses France of ‘destabilising’ region
TEHRAN, Jan 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iran has accused France of being a
destabilising force in the region after its foreign minister threatened new
sanctions against Tehran over its missile programme.
“The Islamic republic has always called for the strengthening of peace and
stability in the region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement
released overnight Friday.
As such Iran “considers the mass sales of sophisticated and offensive
weapons by… France as a factor in destabilising the balance of the region,”
the statement said.
It came after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday said
Paris was ready to impose new sanctions on Tehran if talks on its missile
programme and its regional influence fail to make progress.
“We have begun a difficult dialogue with Iran… and unless progress is
made we are ready to apply sanctions, firmly, and they know it,” Le Drian
said.
Le Drian also demanded that Iran change its behaviour in the region,
specifically regarding its military presence in Syria.
The Iranian foreign ministry responded saying “Iran’s missile programme is
not negotiable” and warned that “any new sanction by European countries will
lead to a review of our relations with them”.
Iran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal
with major powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United
States — that lifted sanctions on the Iran.
But in May the United States withdrew from the deal and re-imposed
sanctions on Tehran.
The EU has been trying to set up a special payment mechanism to maintain
trade and business ties with Iran and circumvent the US sanctions.
Tehran has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology but says
it has no intention of acquiring atomic weapons and that its missile
development programmes are purely defensive.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1538 hrs