Tehran accuses US of using nuclear issue as pretext to inflict destruction on Iran

Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of using its nuclear program as a pretext to inflict destruction on the country, saying Washington’s repeated attacks and threats against Iranian nuclear facilities reflected hostility toward the country’s scientific and technological progress.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said repeated US attacks and threats against Iran’s nuclear facilities violated the UN Charter, international law, and relevant resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, General Conference and the UN Security Council.

The attacks “reveal the United States’ deep-rooted enmity toward Iran’s scientific progress and technological development,” he added on the US social media company X.

The spokesman said Iran’s nuclear activities have been fully declared to the IAEA in accordance with its safeguards obligations.

Baqaei dismissed US claims on the existence of a secret nuclear complex in Kolang Kouh, also known as Pickaxe Mountain, as “a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction and sabotage.”

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US would strike the Pickaxe Mountain area near Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran “pretty soon.”

“The Iranian people stand resolute and united, ready to confront with full strength any act of US hostility or violation of their country’s sovereignty and national security,” Baqaei said.

The US has been carrying out a series of strikes across Iran since last week, while Tehran has responded with strikes targeting facilities and bases it says are used by the US military in several countries across the region.

The exchange of fire has continued despite a Pakistani-brokered framework agreement signed by the US and Iran in June to end the war that began in February and pave the way for a lasting peace deal.