Iran Foreign Ministry rejects foreign meddling in domestic issues

Iran has rejected any foreign meddling in its domestic affairs, saying the nation is ready to defend its missile program with full strength in the face interventionist policies of other states.

“The missile issue and Iran’s internal affairs are the Iranian government, its leadership, and people’s business,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told reporters on Monday.

“When it comes to Iran’s interests, we ourselves are the ones taking decision and we do not need any consultations” with others over such issues, said the official, adding that the nation will defend its “independence with all might.”

The administration US President Donald Trump has adopted a hostile rhetoric against Iran’s missile work in recent days.

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New US officials have claimed that Iran’s January 29 missile test was “in defiance of” UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and world powers, including Washington.

Various Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, have rejected the claims, saying Iran’s missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads and thus its missile tests do not breach Resolution 2231.

Qassemi further said the Islamic Republic was indifferent to the latest remarks by the US officials as it is not the first time an American administration was making “contradictory,” “threatening,” and “antagonistic” statements against Tehran.

He, however, said the new administration was yet to find its feet, and therefore it was too soon to make assessments about it.

The official, meanwhile, reminded that Iran’s missiles serve the purpose of the country’s defense.

‘Iran stands by Syria’

Qassemi said Iran maintains its principal stance of defending Syria’s territorial integrity, government, reiterating support for the restoration of peace and stability to the country.

Addressing the issue of talks underway in the Kazakh capital of Astana among representatives of Iran, Turkey, and Russia on the situation in Syria, he said the meeting is a technical one among experts aimed at coordinating the countries’ efforts towards the consolidation of the ceasefire in Syria.

The nationwide ceasefire in Syria was brokered by Russia and Turkey with the support of Iran in December 2016. In January, Astana hosted two days of talks between Damascus and opposition groups, with Iran, Russia and Turkey attending the event as mediators.

‘Iran to retaliate against sanction’

The official said the Islamic Republic was examining placing some American individuals and institutions on a sanction list in reaction to the Trump administration’s recent “unfair and wrongful” bans against the Islamic Republic.

The sanctions, he said, will be targeting those assisting Takfiri terror groups such as Daesh and the groups that contribute to the Israeli regime’s aggression against Palestinians.

‘Netanyahu trying in vain’

The Iranian spokesman, meanwhile, addressed speculations suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to form a “tripartite coalition comprising Israel, the US, and the UK” against Iran.

Netanyahu feels there is an opportunity amid the Trump administration’s anti-Iran stance, and is trying to seize it, Qassemi said.

“I think this again is among the Zionists’ chimeras and delusions, because neither Iran nor the region’s situation allows for such developments,” he said. “They [the Israelis] try in vain and fail to fulfill their evil goals.”

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