Iran warns of acquiring nuclear weapons after Trump's 'bombing' threat

Ali Larijani, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said while Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, an attack would leave it with no choice but to defend itself, according to media reports

A senior Iranian official on Monday warned that any military attack on the country would leave it with no choice but to acquire nuclear weapons, according to media reports.

 

The comment came amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington, exacerbated by US President Donald Trump’s remark last week in which he reportedly threatened Iran of ‘bombing’ if Tehran did not agree to a nuclear programme deal.

 

Ali Larijani, a key adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said while Iran has consistently maintained that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, an act of aggression from the US could shift Tehran’s stance, news agency AFP reported. 

In a conversation with local TV channel, Larijani said, “We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself.”

 

He said, “Iran does not want to do this, but it will have no choice. If at some point you (the US) move towards bombing by yourself or through Israel, you will force Iran to make a different decision.”

 

Trump said on Sunday that “there will be bombing” if Iran refused to agree to a nuclear deal, according to NBC News. "If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before," Trump had said.  The NBC report also said Trump threatened to penalise Tehran with what he described as ‘secondary tariffs’.   In response to Trump's threat, Khamenei said in a speech, “They threaten to do mischief. If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack.”

 

Notably, Western nations, including the United States, have long alleged that Iran was seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, an accusation Tehran has consistently denied, maintaining that its uranium enrichment activities were intended solely for peaceful purposes. 

Also Read: Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinian medics, buried them in mass grave: UN

Why is Iran’s nuclear programme a Western concern?

According to the World Nuclear Association, Iran has a major project developing its uranium enrichment capability, and the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) aimed to address this situation. Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for relief from international sanctions, and JCPOA restricted Iran to enriching uranium up to 3.67 per cent purity and maintaining a stockpile of no more than 300 kilograms.

 

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency recently noted that Iran has accelerated its production of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels. IAEA said that Iran is producing around nine kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent uranium-235 each month, making it the only country without a declared nuclear weapons programme to have done so.

 

Reports say that although US intelligence agencies believe Iran has not yet begun developing nuclear weapons, they acknowledge that Iran has taken steps that could enable it to build a nuclear device if it chooses to do so.