Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi admitted that in the recent United States (U.S.) and Israeli bombings, “excessive and serious” damage was caused to the nuclear facilities of this country.
Araghchi stated that the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization is conducting an assessment of the damage.
However, just a few hours earlier, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the attacks did not disrupt the country’s nuclear program. Khamenei responded to the claim of U.S. President Donald Trump that the bombs “completely destroyed” three nuclear facilities and that the U.S. attacks failed to “achieve anything significant”.
Khamenei insisted that Trump “exaggerated” the impact of the bombs and declared victory over the U.S. and Israel.
The foreign minister also said that there are no plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
“I would like to clearly state that no agreement, arrangement, or discussion has been reached regarding the start of new negotiations,” he said.
He added that the government is examining what is in the “interest of the Iranian people”, saying that the approach to diplomacy will take on a “new form” but did not explain what he meant.
On Wednesday, the Iranian parliament approved a law on the termination of cooperation with the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and if implemented, this would mean that Iran is no longer committed to allowing nuclear inspectors access to its locations.
Israel stated that its offensive against Iran was necessary in order to thwart what it claims are Iranian plans to develop nuclear weapons.
It should be recalled that last week the U.S. attacked facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that intelligence data collected by the U.S. and Israel indicate that the attacks “significantly damaged the nuclear program, setting it back by several years”. A preliminary Pentagon assessment also leaked, which estimated that the U.S. attacks set back the Iranian nuclear program only by a few months. The administration rejected these claims.
