France in No Position to Dictate Iran’s Defense Policy” 3/4/2018 11:32:33 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print Velayati responds to the increasing international pressure on Irans missile program Iran Front Page, March 3, 2018  - A foreign policy advisor to Iran’s Leader says the Islamic Republic’s defense policy has nothing to do with foreign powers, reacting to frequent calls from French officials for curbs on Tehran’s missile program. “It’s not France’s business to tell us what kind of missiles we should have,” Ali Akbar Velayati said Wednesday. France, along with other European powers, Germany and Britain, has for a while been requesting Iran to stop developing ballistic missiles. They argue curbs on Iran’s missile program and regional activities will convince US President Donald Trump not to “terminate” the 2015 nuclear deal. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is expected to arrive in Iran for an official visit Monday, during which he ...

‘We do not work for you,’ Iraqi officials tell advisor to Iran’s Khamenei 2/19/2018 4:49:50 PM Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Al Arabiya, 19 February 2018  - Iranian politician Ali Akbar Velayati’s statements that Tehran will not allow liberals or civil society activists or anyone who does not fit Tehran’s criteria to return to power sparked Iraqi officials’ outrage. National Coalition bloc MP Abdul Karim Abtan slammed Velayati and said Iraqis do not work for him. “We do not work for Velayati or anyone else. We are Iraqis and our national project is Iraqi. Velayati may have power over one or two Iraqi (politicians) but this power will not last,” Abtan told Al-Hadath television channel, adding that they will not allow Velayati to interfere in Iraqi affairs. He added that neither the Sunnis nor the Shiites will accept tutelage over Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraqi Communist Party leader Raid Fahmy said Velayati’s ...

Iran regime tells France's Macron not to 'blindly follow' Trump 12/18/2017 1:37:19 PM French President Emmanuel Macron attending a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris LONDON (Reuters) December 17, 2017  - Iran on Sunday criticized French President Emmanuel Macron over his tough stance toward Tehran and said Paris would soon lose its international credibility if it “blindly follows” U.S. President Donald Trump. Tensions between Iran and France have risen in recent months after Macron said Tehran should be less aggressive in the Middle East, citing in particular its involvement in Syria’s civil war. Macron, unlike Trump, has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the deal Iran signed in 2015 with world powers under which it curbed its disputed nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions. However, he has been critical of Iran’s ballistic missile tests and wants to raise the possibility of new sanctions over the progra...