Iran Vows Stronger Response If Attacked Again By US, Israel
Iran's foreign minister warned on Monday that it would respond to the United States and Israel in a "more decisive manner" should they attack Iran again.
The comments appeared to be in response to remarks by US President Donald Trump, who had threatened earlier in the day to "wipe out" the Islamic republic's nuclear programme if it resumed atomic activities following a round of US strikes last month.
"If aggression is repeated, we will not hesitate to react in a more decisive manner and in a way that will be IMPOSSIBLE to cover up," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.
"If there are concerns about the possible diversion of our nuclear program into non-peaceful purposes, the 'military option' proved incapable -- but a negotiated solution may work," he added.
It remains unclear how much damage was caused by the US strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities, which came after Israel launched a surprise bombing campaign that it said was aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining an atomic weapon.
Israel's attacks had derailed US-Iran nuclear negotiations that began in April.
Over the course of the 12-day war, Iran responded with missile attacks on Israeli cities, as well as one on a nearby US base in Qatar -- a response Trump had previously shrugged off.
During a visit to Scotland on Monday, Trump maintained the previous strikes on Iran "wiped out their nuclear possibilities".
"They can start again. If they do, we'll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it," he added.
Before the war broke out, the United States and Iran were divided over uranium enrichment -- with Tehran describing it as a "non-negotiable" right, and Washington calling it a "red line".
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent -- a short step from the 90-percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon.
Tehran, which has consistently denied pursuing a bomb, has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment, but not the right to enrichment itself.
In his post, Araghchi said: "No one in their right mind would abandon the fruits of tremendous investment in homegrown and peaceful technology" just because of foreign bullying.
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