Khamenei Adviser Threatens Retaliation if Nuclear Deal is Terminated

Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
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Khamenei Adviser Threatens Retaliation if Nuclear Deal is Terminated

Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

“If Trump exits the deal, Iran will surely pull out of it… Iran will not accept a nuclear deal with no benefits for us,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System Mohsen Rezaee recommended that the threats made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's supreme national security council, should be taken seriously, mainly Iran’s threat to pull out from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Salami said that government officials should be more authoritative, and revealed that IRGC suggested over politicians that they withdraw from the nuclear deal and from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and to resume an unlimited nuclear activity. At the same time, he threatened to wipe out Israel.

Defence Secretary James Mattis on Thursday said no decision had been made on whether the United States is going to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. He also played down concerns about whether a potential US withdrawal from the deal would undermine attempts to strike an agreement with North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

“I think we need to focus on what is in the best interest of Middle East stability and the threat that Iran poses,” he added.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Macron later told reporters that he has no inside information on Trump’s decision on the Iran deal but noted that it’s clear the US president is not very much eager to defend it. Macron statement came hours after his speech infront of the Congress, where he confirmed that Iran won’t be capable of owning a nuclear bomb, demanding that Trump’s administration doesn’t withdraw from the deal.

Russia does not see any room for changes or additions to the Iran nuclear deal, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Zakharova also said Moscow was seriously concerned by comments made by the presidents of France and the United States about the deal.



Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation "case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

"The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious," he added.

"For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined."

He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.