On Tuesday 23 January, the head of the Iranian Assembly's committee for foreign affairs and national security, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, warned that Iran's missile capability is not negotiable.
When asked by MEPs from the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee about his country's ballistic missile programme, Boroujerdi said that Iran had "no other arms than missiles". "We have a responsibility to defend ourselves. We do not want atomic weapons. We do not have weapons of mass destruction. But it is important to recognise that we must have a deterrence capability with regard to the threats to our country – in other words, missile capability", he said, saying that his country was only steps away from Saudi Arabia. "Capability is indispensable for us. It is not negotiable", he added.
Speaking about the nuclear agreement negotiated by his country, which US President Donald Trump wants to call into question, Boroujerdi said Trump's comments were an offensive against the international community that approved this agreement (see EUROPE 11939).
"We believe in this cooperation. We are against nuclear expansion and would like a world without nuclear arms", Boroujerdi stated. In his opinion, this agreement is "the basis for a new chapter in bilateral relations between Iran and several Western countries", including the USA.
He also justified Iran's action in Syria, which has been criticised by the EU. "We have been invited by the Syrian government. We have begun to fight against Islamic State. If we had not intervened, Syria would be like Libya. It would be anarchy, political chaos in the region", he said.
Boroujerdi also rejected the accusation that the Iranian authorities had stopped hundreds of peaceful demonstrations in recent weeks (see EUROPE 11940). "Everywhere in the world, authorities respond if opponents overstep the limits. They stop the opponents and put them in prison (...) In a democracy, we can assemble and express ourselves but there are limits not to be overstepped", he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)