French defense minister says scrapping nuclear deal ‘gift to Iran hardliners’

Scrapping the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran would help hardliners and be a step towards future wars, French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Friday. Paris, however, wants to take action to tackle Iran’s missile program and “destabilizing” behavior, Parly said in a speech at a Washington think tank. Scrapping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would be a gift to Iran’s hardiners, Parly said. “We should also be very serious about the destabilizing ballistic and regional activities. We are working on it,” Reuters quoted the minister as saying.