Iran tells US, Europe: Scrap nukes, missiles

Bahrain says it seized armed network set up by Revolutionary Guards

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran will not negotiate over its ballistic missiles until the United States and Europe dismantle their nuclear weapons, a top Iranian military official said on Saturday.

While Iran has accepted curbs on its nuclear work, it has repeatedly refused to discuss its missile program, something the United States and the Europeans have called for.

“The condition for negotiating Iran’s missiles is the destruction of the nuclear weapons and long-range missiles of the United States and Europe,” Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying.

Iran says its missile program is defensive because of its deterrent nature, and that it is not related to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to the lifting of sanctions against the country.

European powers and Iran have started talks over Tehran’s role in the Middle East and will meet again this month in Italy as part of efforts to prove to US President Donald Trump that they are meeting his concerns over the 2015 nuclear deal.

Also on Saturday, Bahrain said it had rounded up 116 members of an armed network established and supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, suspected of plotting attacks on Bahraini government officials and security forces.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. But Iran has denied similar charges in the past.

The Interior Ministry in Bahrain said that investigators found sites used by the network to manufacture and store explosives intended to be used for terrorist attacks.

Bahrain put down Arab Spring protests led by majority Shi’ites demanding reforms, but the Western-allied kingdom has faced a wave of bomb attacks by terrorists, whom the Sunni-led government says are trained and supported by Iran. Tehran denies the charges.

The island kingdom is strategically located in the Gulf between regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Bahrain has stepped up a crackdown on dissent since 2016, shuttering the main opposition parties, jailing or stripping citizenship from prominent dissidents and putting the top Shi’ite spiritual leader under de facto house arrest.

“Comprehensive investigations revealed the suspected terrorists were members of a network formed and supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” the Bahraini ministry said.

“The network was planning to target Bahraini officials, members of the security authorities and vital oil installations, with the objective of disturbing public security and harming the national economy,” it said.

The statement said that 48 of the 116 people arrested had received training at Revolutionary Guard facilities in Iran and its affiliated locations in Iraq and Lebanon.

The items found included explosives materials, automatic weapons, pistols and magnetic bombs and grenades, the statement said.