Bahram Ghasemi, the spokesman for the foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic rejected the idea of negotiating Iran’s missile program and said: “We have said it loud and clear, we do not negotiate over missiles.”

He clarified that Iran and Europe’s negotiations are strictly political and economic, and said: “We have not had any negotiations with them over military capabilities.”

His comments are in reaction to the French foreign minister’s statement two days ago, in which he warned that if the negotiations over Iran’s ballistic missile program fails, France is ready to impose new sanctions on Tehran.

Reuters previously reported that aside from France, Britain and the E.U also support sanctions against people and groups involved with Iran’s ballistic missiles program. Freezing the assets travel ban of IRGC officials would be the main aim of the sanctions.

President Macron had previously said that Iran’s ballistic missile program must be controlled. France and U.S have stated that Iran’s ballistic missile launch is against the U.N Security Council resolution.

Islamic Republic authorities say the missile program is only for defense.

On January 9th, an Islamic Republic foreign ministry official stated that due to the sanctions imposed on the ministry of intelligence by the E.U, Iran is revisiting its security cooperation with European countries. Iranian diplomats have not elaborated on the topic.