The United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump defended the attacks that the U.S. carried out last month on three Iranian nuclear facilities and warned Tehran that Washington would strike again “if necessary”.
“We’ll do it again, if necessary!”, wrote Trump on the Truth Social platform, responding to remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that the facilities were “seriously damaged”.
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Iranian nuclear sites: ‘The damage is very great, they’ve been destroyed.’ Of course they have, just as I said,” wrote Trump, calling on CNN to fire one of its journalists and accusing the network of downplaying the success of U.S. pilots who “destroyed the sites”.
CNN cited an early assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies suggesting that the U.S. strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, rather than destroying it.
Araghchi’s statement came during an interview, where he said: “Our facilities were damaged – seriously damaged. The extent of the damage is now being assessed by our atomic energy organization.”
The Foreign Minister also signaled that Iran has no intention of giving up its uranium enrichment program.
“We cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a matter of national pride,” he said.
This statement came at a time when a new round of nuclear talks is to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday between Iran and three European countries known as the E3 – the United Kingdom (UK), France, and Germany.
Talks between Tehran and the U.S. had been conducted via Omani intermediaries until the surprise Israeli attack on Iran on June 13th, which sparked a 12-day war.
The attack occurred just two days before the planned sixth round of nuclear talks in the Omani capital, Muscat.
The U.S. joined Israel’s war against Iran on June 22nd, striking three Iranian nuclear facilities, BHRT writes.
