Iran Says It Can Build New Nuclear Facilities If Enemies Strike

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) during a visit to the Mahalati navy and ship industry complex in the coastal Gulf city of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, on a rainy day on February 13, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / Handout / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) during a visit to the Mahalati navy and ship industry complex in the coastal Gulf city of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, on a rainy day on February 13, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / Handout / AFP)
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Iran Says It Can Build New Nuclear Facilities If Enemies Strike

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) during a visit to the Mahalati navy and ship industry complex in the coastal Gulf city of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, on a rainy day on February 13, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / Handout / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) during a visit to the Mahalati navy and ship industry complex in the coastal Gulf city of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, on a rainy day on February 13, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / Handout / AFP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran's enemies may be able to strike the country's nuclear centers but they cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones.

He made his comments after the Washington Post reported that US intelligence believes Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear program by the middle of the year.

"They threaten us that they will hit nuclear facilities... If you (the enemy) strike a hundred of those we will build a thousand other ones... You can hit the buildings and the places but you cannot hit those who build it," Pezeshkian said, according to state media.

US President Donald Trump raised on Monday the possibility of Israel hitting Iran in an interview with Fox News saying he would prefer to make a deal with Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not to happen," Trump said.

On Thursday, the commander of Iran's conventional air force Hamid Vahedi said: "We tell all countries, friends and foes alike, that our country's doctrine is defensive but we will respond with force against any enemy attack."

Iran and Israel engaged in tit-for-tat strikes last year amid wider tensions over Israel's war in Gaza.



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.