“We Cannot Give Up” Nuclear Program Because of National Pride, Iranian Leader Tells Fox
by Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – In a defiant stance likely to heighten global tensions, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News on Monday that Iran will not abandon its nuclear enrichment program, describing it as a matter of national pride and scientific achievement.
The comments were made during an exclusive interview with anchor Bret Baier on Special Report, that aired on Monday.
“We cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” Araghchi said in a preview clip released by the network. “Our enrichment is so dear to us.”
The statement comes amid continued fallout from last month’s U.S. airstrikes–dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer–which targeted several Iranian nuclear facilities. Araghchi acknowledged the damage was “serious,” though he declined to confirm whether any enriched uranium stockpiles had survived.
“Our facilities have been damaged–seriously damaged,” he said. “The extent of which is now under evaluation by our atomic energy organization. But as far as I know, they are seriously damaged.” He added that the strikes had temporarily halted all enrichment activity.
Despite insisting for years that its nuclear ambitions are strictly peaceful, Iran’s program has long raised alarms in the West. Intelligence reports prior to the U.S.-Israeli strikes suggested Tehran was potentially days away from producing a nuclear weapon, with the capacity to produce multiple warheads within weeks.
Critics point to the fact that nuclear power comprises less than one percent of Iran’s domestic energy consumption–raising doubts about its insistence on maintaining large-scale enrichment. The U.S. has proposed that Iran join a regional enrichment consortium alongside nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to meet its civil nuclear needs. Tehran has repeatedly rejected such proposals.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echoed Araghchi’s sentiments last month, calling Iran’s full mastery of the nuclear fuel cycle a rare national achievement. “The number of countries in the world that have achieved a complete nuclear fuel cycle is perhaps fewer than the number of fingers on a person’s two hands,” he said. “We’re capable of producing nuclear fuel starting from the mine and all the way to the power plant.”
The ongoing standoff comes as Tehran faces the threat of intensified sanctions and a possible arms embargo if it fails to reach a new nuclear agreement by the end of August. Whether such an agreement must include the United States remains unclear, though European signatories–France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, collectively known as the E3–remain actively engaged in negotiations.
Iranian officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday with representatives from Russia and China, two of its closest allies and key geopolitical counterweights to the U.S. Further discussions with the E3 are expected to take place on Friday.
As of now, formal talks between Washington and Tehran have not resumed since the strikes–leaving the future of the Iranian nuclear program and regional stability hanging in the balance.
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