AhlulBayt News Agency: Iran’s Intelligence Minister Khatib says the country’s nuclear enrichment progress is irreversible, warning that enemies are pressuring Tehran to “surrender” but will not succeed.
Speaking in a provincial event in Mashhad on Thursday, Khatib said it is naïve to think that resolving issues with the United States and cutting nuclear enrichment would solve Iran’s problems.
“Iran is currently among the world’s top ten countries in nuclear enrichment, and its enemies are seeking to counter not only Iran’s nuclear activities today but also the future achievements of its talented youth in artificial intelligence and other fields of progress,” he said.
“Some, with oversimplification and relying on their political experience, think that if we reduce enrichment to zero and resolve issues with the United States, our problems will be solved; but in reality, the enemies want nothing from us except surrender, and the Iranian nation will never bow to submission or coercion,” added the minister.
Scientific and defense advances remain central strategies for the Islamic Republic, he stressed.
The comments come amid increasing Western pressure on Iran to abandon its peaceful nuclear program. Iran signed a deal in 2015 with world powers, agreeing to curb its activities in return for the lifting of unlawful sanctions.
Three years later, though, the United States pulled out of the agreement unilaterally while Iran was adhering to its commitments. The European parties to the deal failed to compensate for Iran’s losses, and Iran, in response, reduced commitments gradually through announced steps.
Now, the European powers have moved to restore UN sanctions under the deal’s snapback mechanism. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France have accused Iran of failing to comply with the terms of the nuclear agreement, despite the fact that these European signatories themselves breached the deal.
The snapback trigger comes following the US-Israeli aggression on Iran in June. The Israeli regime launched an unprovoked attack on Iran on June 13, targeting the country’s commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. The US also joined the aggression days later by bombing three nuclear facilities in central Iran, in a clear violation of international law and Iran’s sovereignty.
The US-Israeli aggression was launched amid ongoing indirect talks between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear issue.
Khatib noted that the war had been a failure for Iran’s adversaries. “The enemy tried everything in those 12 days to achieve a goal it had pursued for five decades of the Islamic Revolution,” he said, probably referring to the announced goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic.
However, he maintained, “thanks to the strength of our armed forces, the vigilance of our security institutions, the support of the people, and the guidance of the Leader, they failed to achieve their goal.”
Khatib also noted that the US and Israel failed to isolate Iran during the war as “120 countries voiced support for Iran.”
“Neighboring states are also now cooperating with us against Zionist threats,” he said, adding that even Western observers acknowledge Israel has become “the most hated regime in the world.”
‘Iranophobia’ project
Khatib said that global powers have launched a decades-long campaign of “Iranophobia” but argued that their failure on the battlefield has pushed them to rely more heavily on diplomatic and economic pressure.
“The arrogant powers of the world, having realized they cannot succeed in direct confrontation with Iran, now seek to escalate sanctions and intensify pressure in international forums,” he said.
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