France wants to take action to tackle Iran’s missile program and “destabilizing” behavior, but believes scrapping the 2015 nuclear deal would help hardliners and be a step towards future war, France's defense minister said on Friday.

 

“We need the JCPOA. Scrapping it would be a gift to Iran’s hardiners, and a first step towards future wars,” Florence Parly said in a speech at a Washington think tank, referring to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

 

“But we should also be very serious about the destabilizing ballistic and regional activities. We are working on it.”