Iran has expanded it borders to Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, a senior lawmaker in Iran’s parliament has said, rejecting any talks with the West over the issue.

Mahmoud Nabavian, a cleric and a hardliner politician representing a constituency near Tehran told a local website that while the United States has forces in the Persian Gulf, “We should not remain within our borders”.

He added that the reason “enemies cannot make Iran insecure is that we have expanded our borders and now Iran’s borders are in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.” He rejected Western demands that Iran should negotiate over its role in the Middle East, arguing that “They want to take the region from us.”

Nabavian also dismissed another Western demand that Iran should discuss its ballistic missile issue. “They want to take our missile power from us so we will have nothing if enemies attack us.” The ultraconservative lawmaker went on to say that Iran should never agree to negotiate with the West over its regional policies and missile power.

Predictably, Nabavian also dismissed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) brought no benefits for Tehran. He said the issue is not just sanctions imposed by former US president Donald Trump, but the same anti-Iran agenda was pursued by the Obama administration.