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TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday that its military capabilities were not up for negotiations, after France called for a “comprehensive deal” with Tehran that covers its missile program and regional influence.
“Regarding matters related to our defense capabilities, there will absolutely be no discussion,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a regular press briefing.
Iran generally refers to all military activities, including its ballistic missile program, as defensive.
On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told CBS News show “Face The Nation” that Western governments were seeking a “comprehensive agreement” with Iran, in part to avert the “risk” that it could covertly pursue a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
Barrot said such agreement would include “the nuclear dimension” as well as the “ballistic component” and “the regional destabilization activities that Iran has been conducting,” referring to armed groups backed by Tehran across the Middle East.
His remarks followed a meeting on Friday between Iranian diplomats and counterparts from France, Germany, and Britain — the first nuclear talks since Israeli strikes targeting the Islamic republic’s atomic activities last month spiralled into a 12-day war.
Friday’s talks in Istanbul came as the three European powers, known as the E3, have in recent weeks threatened to trigger a so-called “snapback mechanism” under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal which would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran.
“Unless a new and robust and durable and verifiable agreement is reached by the end of the summer, France, Germany and the UK will have no other choice but to reapply the global embargo that were lifted 10 years ago,” said Barrot.
Iran has previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if sanctions were reimposed.
Baqaei on Monday said: “One cannot expect a country to remain in the treaty while being deprived of its stated rights, particularly the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
Israel’s attacks on Iran last month hit key nuclear and military sites but also residential areas, and killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds others. The United States briefly joined the war, striking key nuclear sites.
The fighting had derailed US-Iran nuclear negotiations that began in April, and prompted Iran to limit cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
Baqaei said the Istanbul meeting with the European powers focused solely on “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”
Raising any other “unrelated topics... is merely a sign of confusion on the part of the other side,” the spokesman said.
He added that Iranian had emerged from the war with its staunch rival Israel “even more determined... to safeguard all their assets, including their means of defense against foreign aggression and hostility.”

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes killed at least 34 Palestinians in multiple locations across Gaza on Monday, local health officials said, a day after Israel eased aid restrictions in the face of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the territory.

Israel announced Sunday that the military would pause operations in Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah and Muwasi for 10 hours a day until further notice to allow for the improved flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where concern over hunger has grown, and designate secure routes for aid delivery.

Israel said it would continue military operations alongside the new humanitarian measures. The Israeli military had no immediate comment about the latest strikes, which occurred outside the time frame for the pause Israel declared would be held between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Aid agencies have welcomed the new aid measures, which also included allowing airdrops into Gaza, but said they were not enough to counter the rising hunger in the Palestinian territory.

Images of emaciated children have sparked outrage around the world, including from Israel’s close allies. US President Donald Trump on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza “terrible.”

Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine to pressure Hamas to free hostages.

Israel partially lifted those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead on a new US-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. Traditional aid providers also have encountered a similar breakdown in law and order surrounding their aid deliveries.

Most of Gaza’s population now relies on aid. Accessing food has become a challenge that some Palestinians have risked their lives for.

The Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of seven Palestinians who it said were killed Monday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The hospital said 20 others were wounded close to the site.

Elsewhere, a woman who was seven months pregnant was killed along with 11 others after their house was struck in the Muwasi area, west of the southern city of Khan Younis. The woman’s fetus survived after a complex surgery, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

One strike hit a two-story house in the western Japanese neighborhood of Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, said the Nasser Hospital, which received the casualties.

The Israeli military and GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those strikes.

In its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. It still holds 50, more than half Israel believes to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says over half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.