The West Can't Stop Us From Building Nuclear Weapons, But A Deal Is Possible

The West cannot stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, the country's supreme leader has said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was speaking Sunday as tensions continue to rise over the country's nuclear work.

In comments reported by state media, he said: “Tehran's talk of nuclear weapons is a lie and [the West] know it.

“We don't want nuclear weapons, based on our beliefs, otherwise they couldn't have stopped it.”

An agreement with the West on the nuclear program is possible, the supreme leader said, but only if Tehran manages to keep its nuclear infrastructure intact.

He said: “There is nothing wrong with the agreement [with the West]but we must not touch the infrastructure of our nuclear industry.”

Iran should continue to work with the UN nuclear watchdog, he added.

In recent years, the Islamic Republic has increased its uranium stockpiles – its total enriched uranium is now 21 times higher than the limits imposed on it under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, today now gone.

Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 while he was president, and diplomatic efforts to revive it have been stalled since September, with both sides accusing the other of making unreasonable demands. .

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Tehran has continued to install advanced centrifuges and last year particles enriched to 83.7% were detected.

Last week, Iran unveiled a hypersonic missile that it says can hit Israel in 400 seconds and evade the Iron Dome defense system.

The weapon's viability remains questionable, but the move was a warning to Israel that it was within reach.

This prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tell Sky News that his country would do “whatever it takes to defend itself” against Iran.

Mr. Netanyahu said diplomacy would only work “if it is combined with a credible military threat or the willingness to pursue the military option if deterrence fails.”

He added: “Iran is openly committed to destroying, repeating the Holocaust and destroying Israel's six or seven million Jews and we are not going to stand by and let them do it.

“[If] These ayatollahs think they could threaten us with a nuclear holocaust, they are wrong. We will do whatever it takes to defend ourselves. »