Iran's FM defends development of missile program

TEHRAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday defended his country's missile program as a component of defense policy.

Iran's missile program is irrelevant to the 2015 international nuclear deal, Zarif said in a meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in the capital Tehran.

"Iran's military power is to defend the country," he said, adding that "Iran has learned from the imposed war experience (during 1980s between Iran and Iraq) that it should rely on its deterrent power to defend its citizens."

He called on the United States and some countries to "stop selling the arms which have turned the region into a tinderbox."

The Iranian foreign minister also criticized some European countries for "being influenced under U.S. pressures" over Iran's nuclear deal and missile program.

The U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to scuttle the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal unless amendments are made to it.

Le Drian arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian officials on mutual ties as well as regional and international issues. Enditem