Iran refuses to abandon nuclear programme

Telegraph

5 days ago

Iran will not abandon its nuclear programme despite 'severe' damage caused by US and Israeli air strikes, its foreign minister said.
Abbas Araghchi conceded late on Monday that uranium enrichment had 'stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe', ahead of renewed talks with European powers.
But Mr Araghchi told Fox News: 'Obviously we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists.' He called the programme a source of 'national pride'.
Iran is due to meet Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday to discuss its uranium enrichment programme, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering the significant 2015 nuclear deal.
The meeting will be the first since Iran's 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the US bombed three of its critical nuclear facilities, including the Fordow underground enrichment site.
Mr Araghchi stressed that any future nuclear deal would have to contain the right to enrichment.
Asked if any near-bomb-grade uranium had been saved from the strikes, he claimed he had 'no detailed information' but said Iran's atomic energy organisation was still 'trying to evaluate' what happened to the enriched nuclear material.
Donald Trump, the US president, has repeatedly claimed the air strikes 'obliterated' the sites and lashed out against media reports citing US intelligence findings that the attacks set back Iran's nuclear program only by months, rather than destroying it.
Mr Agarachi said: 'Yes, facilities have been destroyed. They are severely destroyed. But the technology is there, our nuclear program, our enrichment program, is not something imported from outside that can be destroyed by bombings.'
Donald Trump quickly responded to Mr Araghchi's comments, threatening on social media to 'do it again, if necessary!'
Weapons programme
Western powers have long accused Tehran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production. But some in the Iranian regime view atomic weapons as a deterrent against perceived threats.
Iran had made progress recently, with experts fearing that it was within sprinting distance of enriching uranium to bomb grade before the Israeli and US strikes.
However, Israeli and US officials believe some of Iran's stockpile of 60 per cent enriched uranium survived the attacks and could be salvaged by Tehran.
Britain, France and Germany remain part of a 2015 nuclear deal also signed by the Obama administration, China and Russia that imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
The agreement unravelled in 2018 when Mr Trump withdrew during his first term and reimposed sweeping sanctions.
The three European powers have threatened to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran by the end of August unless there is progress towards limiting its nuclear programme.
The agreement expires in October, leaving a tight deadline.
Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks starting in April but the negotiations ended after Israel launched its surprise strikes on Iran on June 13.
'At present, we have no plans to hold talks with the United States,' Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry.
Tehran will also host a trilateral meeting on Tuesday with Chinese and Russian representatives to discuss the nuclear issue and potential sanctions.