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Khamenei Advisor Says Who Is Macron To Tell Iran What To Do


Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Iran's supreme leader, in a meeting in Tehran on November 14, 2017.
Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Iran's supreme leader, in a meeting in Tehran on November 14, 2017.

After French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments recently about Iran’s behavior in the region and its missile program, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, accused the Macron of interference in Iran’s affairs.

Ali Akbar Velayati in an interview with Iran’s state broadcaster on Saturday lashed out at Macron saying, “We don’t ask permission from others about our country’s issues or our defense plans or whether to have missiles or not”.

Recently, Macron has twice repeated his view that Iran should reconsider its conflict generating policies in the region and should be transparent about its missile program.

He has also said that there should be negotiations about Iran’s missiles, similar to the nuclear talks. Otherwise, sanction can be a distinct possibility.

Resolution 2231 of the United Nations, which wrapped up Iran’s nuclear agreement with world powers, calls on the Islamic Republic to refrain from developing nuclear capable ballistic missiles.

In a sharp rebuke to Macron Velayati said in his interview, “Who is Macron to interfere. If he wants Iranian-French relations to expand he should not interfere in such matters”.

Macron, however, has reaffirmed his support for the nuclear agreement challenged by U.S. President Donald Trump. "If we were to walk away from it, it would lead to either immediate war or an absence of control which would inevitably lead to a North Korean-situation, which I could not accept."

But European countries seem to be willing to press Iran on the missile issue and its interference in regional countries.

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