Iran on Wednesday dismissed as ‘nonsense’ US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s criticism this week of the Islamic republic’s missile programme as an ‘unacceptable risk’.
‘He was speaking nonsense,’ foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told journalists, adding the United States was ‘not supposed to comment on the defensive capabilities of a nation that has decided to preserve its independence at any cost.’
The missile programme was Iran’s means ‘to stand against the greed, aggression and assaults of foreigners — including the US and the Zionist regime’, he said, referring to Israel.
During a Monday visit to Israel, Rubio vowed to maintain the ‘maximum pressure’ policy of sanctions against Tehran which was imposed during US president Donald Trump’s first term in office.
That policy saw Washington unilaterally withdraw from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.
‘A nuclear Iran governed by a radical Shia cleric that possesses not just nuclear weapons potentially but the missiles that could deliver those weapons far away is an unacceptable risk, not just for Israel, not just for the United States, but for the world,’ Rubio said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United States would press ahead with pressure on Iran until ‘they change course’, he added.
In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a war during which Iran responded with deadly missile and drone strikes.
The conflict — which derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington — saw the US striking key nuclear facilities in Iran.
In September Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, said Tehran remained open to nuclear talks with Washington but ruled out any limits on its missile programme.
Meanwhile, Iran said Wednesday it expects European powers who triggered a snapback of UN sanctions to respond positively to its signing of a new cooperation agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog.
The statement came as foreign minister Abbas Araghchi prepared to speak by telephone on Wednesday with his British, French and German counterparts.
‘We have demonstrated that we are not averse to diplomacy and take every opportunity to safeguard the interests and benefits of the Iranian nation,’ foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during his weekly press conference.
‘It is natural to expect that Iran’s positive approach and good-faith efforts will be met with similar and reciprocal action from the European parties.’
Last week, Iran agreed a new cooperation framework with the International Atomic Energy Agency after it suspended cooperation with the UN watchdog following Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities in June.
The agreement came days after the three European powers activated the ‘snapback’ mechanism of a moribund 2015 nuclear deal to reimpose UN sanctions that have been suspended for nearly a decade. They cited what they called ‘significant’ non-compliance by Iran.
The UN sanctions are now set to come back into force next month unless Iran heeds the European governments’ calls to restore cooperation with the IAEA and resume nuclear talks with the United States, suspended since June.
The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities. president Donald Trump effectively torpedoed it during his first term in 2018, when he withdrew the United States and reimposed US sanctions.