Trump warns of repeat strikes after claiming US 'obliterated' Iranian nuclear sites
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended last month's American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, warning that Washington would launch similar attacks again if necessary.
'We will do it again, if necessary!' Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, responding to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's confirmation that the targeted sites had suffered extensive damage.
In a post quoting Araghchi's remarks, Trump declared, 'Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, on the Iran Nuclear Sites: 'Damages are very severe, they are destroyed.' Of course they are, just like I said.' He also criticized CNN, accusing the network of minimizing the impact of the strikes and demanding the dismissal of one of its reporters.
Trump's comments came amid growing debate over the long-term impact of the June 22 strikes, which hit three of Iran's key nuclear facilities. While the US president celebrated the operation as a major success, citing US pilots who 'OBLITERATED' the sites, many media outlets, including CNN, reported that early intelligence assessments suggest Iran's nuclear program may have only been delayed by several months.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Foreign Minister Araghchi acknowledged the damage to Iran's facilities, saying, 'Our facilities have been damaged – seriously damaged…the extent of which is now under evaluation by our atomic energy organization.' However, he reaffirmed Tehran's commitment to its uranium enrichment program, calling it 'an achievement of our own scientists' and 'a question of national pride.'
Araghchi also stated that Iran is open to renewed negotiations, though not direct talks with the United States for now. 'If they [the US] are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them,' he said, adding that Iran is willing to take confidence-building steps to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions.
The interview aired days before a scheduled meeting between Iran and the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal—France, Germany, and the UK—set to take place in Istanbul on Friday.
Talks between Iran and the US, previously conducted via Omani mediators, were disrupted following Israel's June 13 airstrike on Iran, which triggered a 12-day conflict and postponed a sixth round of negotiations in Muscat.
The United States formally joined the conflict on June 22 by targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure, in what it described as a necessary action to prevent further escalation.
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