Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran cannot abandon its uranium enrichment programme, which suffered heavy damage during last month’s Israel-Iran war, in an interview with Fox News.
Prior to the war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but could not agree on the extent to which Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium.
Israel and Washington say Iran was close to enriching to levels that would allow it to quickly produce a nuclear weapon, while Tehran says its enrichment programme is for civilian purposes only.
What Did He Say?
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up (on) enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the foreign minister told the Fox News show “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Monday.
The foreign minister said the damage to the nuclear facilities in Iran after US and Israeli strikes was serious and was being evaluated further.
Araghchi also said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was in “good health” and that Tehran was open to talks with Washington but that those will not be direct “for the time being.”
Context
US ally Israel attacked Iran on June 13 and the Middle Eastern rivals then engaged in an air war for 12 days in which Washington also bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities. A ceasefire was reached in late June.
Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The U.N. nuclear watchdog says it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons programme in Iran. Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes.
Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
(With inputs from Reuters)
