No plans to abandon nuclear program : Iran
Tehran has no plans to abandon its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment, despite "serious" damage caused by US strikes on several Iranian nuclear facilities last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday.
Speaking at a special event on US media outlet Fox News, the Iranian foreign minister said, "For now, (uranium) enrichment has been suspended. Because, yes, the damages are serious."
The Foreign Minister also said, 'We will definitely not stop enrichment. Because this is an achievement of our own scientists.'
Iran's foreign minister also described the country's uranium enrichment program as a source of "national pride." He stressed that any future nuclear deal must include the right to enrichment.
Asked whether enriched uranium had been recovered in the wake of the attack, Abbas Araghchi told Fox News he did not have detailed information on the matter. He said Iran's Atomic Energy Organization is "trying to assess exactly what happened to our nuclear material, our enrichment material."
The technology is still there (in Iran). Our nuclear program, our enrichment program, is not something imported from outside that can be destroyed by dropping bombs. (Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister of Iran)
The United States, with the support of Israeli forces, attacked Iran on June 22, 2019, during a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. That day, three Iranian nuclear facilities were attacked, including the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, south of the capital Tehran.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Iran's nuclear facilities have been "totally destroyed" in the attack.
There is no military solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, Abbas Araghchi said. "Yes, the facilities have been damaged. They have been severely damaged," he told Fox News.
The Iranian foreign minister also noted, "The technology is still there (in Iran). Our nuclear program, our enrichment program, is not something imported from outside that can be destroyed by dropping bombs."
The Foreign Minister's statement came at a time when Tehran is set to resume talks on its nuclear program with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in Istanbul, Turkey, next Friday.
Asked whether there will be talks with the United States to reduce regional tensions, Iran's Foreign Minister directly responded, "We have kept the path open for talks; but not direct talks right now."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump responded to Araghchi's comments in a post on his social media account Truth Social. He wrote, "As I said, we will (strike) again if necessary."