MEMRI reported that various Iranian officials, as well as official Iranian media, have vowed to continue to enrich uranium, despite the Israeli and American strikes.
By Rachel Avraham
According to a recent report published by MEMRI, “Despite President Donald Trump’s most daring and historically unique military operation against Iran’s military nuclear facilities – a move for which Western civilization is morally indebted to him for preventing the destruction of an entire country, Israel – the Iranian regime is still not defeated. Furthermore, in their reactions to the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iranian regime officials are emphasizing that the regime will continue with its uranium enrichment project, and will even from now on adopt a policy of nuclear ambiguity.”
According to the MEMRI report, Iranian Majlis speaker Mohammad Qalibaf and Majlis members announced, amid cheers of “Death to America,” that on June 25, they had approved a bill suspending Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Qalibaf even promised that “Iran’s nuclear program for peaceful purposes will proceed from now on more rapidly… Agency [IAEA] officials will be prohibited from entering until the security of the nuclear facilities and scientists is assured.”
MEMRI noted that the previous day, June 24, Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy director and spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) stressed in his response to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities: “They must know that this industry is deeply rooted in our country and they will not be able to uproot it. Considering our capability, the growth of this industry must continue, and it will not be stopped.”
In a June 23 interview on a German TV show, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi was asked, “After the American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, will Iran stop its uranium enrichment?” He replied: “We are members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT] and in this framework we will continue to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and our country’s needs. No one can tell us what to do or not do as long as we operate within the framework of our obligations under this treaty.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC in a June 21 interview, before the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, that “zero enrichment is impossible” for Iran, adding: “We don’t know how we can trust them [the Americans] any more” after Israel’s attacks.”
Ali Shamkhani, top advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, wrote on X in Hebrew on June 23: “Even assuming that the facilities were completely destroyed, the game is not over; the enriched material, the local experts, and the politics will remain. Now, the political and operational initiative, together with the legitimate right of self-defense, are in the hands of the side that plays wisely and refrains from indiscriminate fire. The surprises will continue!”
According to MEMRI, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced to French President Emmanuel Macron on June 21, before the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities: “We are ready to negotiate and cooperate in order to build trust in the area of our nuclear activity for peaceful purposes – but we will in no way accept reducing our nuclear activity to zero.”
On June 24, Majlis member Amir Hossein Thabeti said: “The West must get accustomed to complete ambiguity regarding the Iranian nuclear program.” On June 23, Iranian television presenter Amir-Hossein Tahmasebi announced, addressing President Trump, that Iran was now adopting a policy of nuclear ambiguity. He said: “We will enrich uranium to whatever level we choose. We will retain as much [enriched] material as we see fit. We will import to and export from any country we wish. We will build [nuclear] facilities wherever we decide. We will reconsider our position on the NPT, and we will answer to no one.”
Photo from Nanking2012: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Iran#/media/File:Arak_Heavy_Water4.JPG
