TEHRAN – Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, on Tuesday defended Iran’s right to have ballistic missiles, saying not only Iran, but other regional countries also have ballistic missiles.

“Certainly true that Iran has ballistic missiles with regional reach. But so have others in that region,” Bildt said in a tweet. “Saudi Arabia has Chinese-supplied ones. Israel have advanced ones with nuclear capability.”

In recent months, calls for negotiations over Tehran’s missile program have grown louder. Iran, however, says it will never hold talks on the issue, insisting that its missile program is purely defensive and its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads.
 
MH/PA