Paris: France’s foreign minister told Iran ahead of a visit to Tehran on Monday that the country needed to address concerns over its ballistic missile programme or risked new sanctions.

“There are ballistic programmes of missiles that can reach several thousand kilometres which are not compatible with UN Security Council resolutions and exceed the sole need of defending Iran’s borders,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

“If not tackled head on, this country risks new sanctions,” he added.

On Saturday, a senior Iranian military official said that Iran will not negotiate its missile programme unless Europe and the US destroy their nuclear weapons and missiles.

Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said the development of Iran’s defence power has put the United States in a weaker position and urged US forces to leave the region.