WANA (Jun 26) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has rejected calls to limit the country’s defense capabilities, insisting that Tehran’s military assets are not open to negotiation or compromise with any party.

 

Speaking on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei responded to the joint statement issued by the United States and the  Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) foreign ministers following their June 25, 2026 meeting, describing it as “a distortion of reality” and a repetition of failed policies.

 

Baghaei said Iran has a greater stake in regional collective security than any other country, arguing that relying on what he described as the region’s primary source of insecurity would do nothing to enhance stability. According to him, such an approach reflects a failure to learn from the costly experiences of recent years.

 

The spokesperson also directed a series of questions at Iran’s southern neighbors, accusing some Persian Gulf states of violating the principle of good neighborliness by facilitating what he called acts of aggression against Iran. He claimed that some countries had allowed their territories to be used for military operations or missile launches targeting the Islamic Republic.

 

Baghaei further criticized what he described as the Persian Gulf states’ silence over the region’s ongoing arms race and Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal, which he said remains outside international oversight. He questioned why Iran’s conventional defensive capabilities are portrayed as a threat while the military policies and repeated actions of other regional actors receive little attention.

 

His remarks came after U.S. and PGCC foreign ministers, in the final communiqué of their meeting in Bahrain, welcomed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and asserted that lasting peace in the Middle East requires addressing what they described as threats posed by Iran’s missile and drone programs, as well as its support for proxy groups. The statement also stressed the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring unrestricted freedom of navigation as essential to regional and global security.

 

In a separate post on X, Baghaei said Iran’s military capabilities serve as a guarantee of the nation’s inherent right to self-defense against aggression while also contributing to regional peace and stability.

 

“National security and dignity are not negotiable and cannot be made conditional,” he said. “Just as the inherent right to legitimate self-defense can never be the subject of negotiations, the means required to exercise that right cannot be a matter of compromise with any party.”

 

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the U.S.-PGCC communiqué, reaffirming that the Islamic Republic will show no leniency in defending its territorial integrity, national security, and its missile and drone capabilities.