US President Donald Trump has said that any new nuclear facilities that Iran decides to build will be destroyed, while doubling down on the administration’s claim that America’s military strikes “completely destroyed” three nuclear sites in the West Asian country in June.
“All three nuclear sites in Iran were completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED. It would take years to bring them back into service, and if Iran wanted to do so, they would be much better off starting anew in three different locations prior to those sites being obliterated, should they decide to do so,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday (local time).
On Thursday, several news outlets reported new intelligence indicating that Iran’s nuclear enrichment site in Fordow was mostly destroyed during the June 21 strikes dubbed Operation ‘Midnight Hammer,’ but the two other principal sites, Natanz and Isfahan, were not and could potentially resume enriching uranium if Tehran greenlights it.
The White House had refuted the report, with the Defense Department chief spokesperson Sean Parnell releasing a statement that read, “The credibility of the Fake News Media is similar to that of the current state of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in the dirt, and will take years to recover.”
“President Trump was clear, and the American people understand: Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz were completely and totally obliterated,” it read.
CNN reported on June 24 that the US intelligence community believed the US strikes had failed to achieve a complete destruction of key components of Tehran’s nuclear program. A preliminary US intelligence inquiry suggests the attack likely only set Iran’s nuclear weapons program back by several months.
This was concluded by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, which noted low confidence in the accuracy of their own assessment.
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has reiterated his country’s legitimate right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, stressing that depriving Iranians of their legal rights is entirely unacceptable.
In a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday afternoon, Pezeshkian emphasized that the Islamic Republic is committed to international law and has confidence in the transparency of its nuclear activities, Iran’s state media IRNA reported.
Pezeshkian also hailed the relations between Iran and Armenia as historic and friendly, saying the Islamic Republic is eager to pursue constructive interaction with all neighboring countries.
The United States and Iran had held several rounds of negotiations prior to the Israeli strikes that sparked off a 12-day war with Iran. Both the US and Iran have signalled a willingness to continue their talks aimed at reaching a deal on Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program. Omani and Qatari officials have been involved in the mediations between Tehran and Washington.
Washington maintains that Iran’s uranium enrichment programme could lead to developing nuclear bombs, while Tehran has consistently denied the claim, insisting that its nuclear programme is meant for civilian purposes.
In July 2015, the Iran nuclear agreement-known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and several world powers, including the United States, which capped Tehran’s enrichment level at 3.67 per cent and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms.
The deal collapsed in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from the accord. Since then, Iran has started exceeding agreed-upon limits to its stockpile of low-enriched uranium in 2019, and began enriching uranium to higher concentrations, up to 60 per cent purity, which is very close to the weapons-grade level.
Earlier this month, Iranian President Pezeshkian signed into law a bill suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The state broadcaster of Iran reported that Pezeshkian ratified the bill after Parliament approved the legislation. (ANI)
