Tehran, Iran – The latest threat of military action against Iran against Iran has prompted further debate about the possibility that Iran will abandon its nuclear non-proliferation.
A senior White House official once again said Iran must completely abolish its nuclear program and all uranium enrichment activities at even low levels.
Amid a fierce US air attack on Yemen, Trump also said he would dismiss Iran’s claim that the US will be in charge of Tehran against any attacks by the Houtis in Yemen, and that the group is operating independently.
This only led to more calls from within Iran to abandon the officially stated policy not to pursue nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear Year”
On Tuesday, Vatan-E Emrooz, a daily newspaper run by ultra-parents, said that the end of Iran’s year on March 20th, with more countries pondering nuclear bombs for security as a result of Trump’s policies.
“Nuclear Year” reads its headline and features an image of a massive nuclear explosion.
Nournews, an outlet on Iran’s highest national security council, said Iran would “no guarantee” if Trump and his team continue to threaten, and that Iran would not waive the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Perhaps it’s time for us to rethink nuclear, military and security doctrines,” Ahmad Nadeli, a member of the Iranian parliament’s Speaker Committee, said last week in a public session of parliament.
Tehran lawmakers have previously supported testing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads, claiming that “the region has no balance” unless Iran owns the bomb.
Such a call reflects feelings that it is increasingly favoured among Iranian hardliners and that its establishment is ready to dash for a bomb if its existence is threatened.
Last week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose religious ruling now prohibits Iran from seeking weapons of mass destruction, also commented.
“If we want to create nuclear weapons, America cannot stop us and is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which conducts inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, Iran has accumulated enough fission material in multiple bombs, but has not made any effort to build it.
Same page as China, Russia
Washington’s European allies have become increasingly hawkish in Iran’s nuclear program several years after their unilateral withdrawal from nuclear deals with Iran’s world powers in 2018.
They urged Iran to curb nuclear progress despite the lack of prospects for lifting sanctions, introducing a condemnation solution to the global nuclear watchdog board and demanding more answers in some nuclear-related cases.
In addition to European outrage over Iran’s close ties with Moscow in the light of the Ukrainian war, years of escalation of Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA have urged Iran to maintain close coordination with China and Russia.
The three countries have held talks in Beijing to present a more unified approach to Iran’s nuclear issue, particularly sanctions.
France, Germany, the UK and European powers remain party parties in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and continue to threaten to activate its “snapback” mechanism to revive all UN sanctions against Iran.
China and Russia are opposed to this move.
E3 says it is pursuing snapbacks as it is concerned about using advanced centrifuges to enrich advanced uranium, alleged violations of the nuclear agreement and allegations made by Iran to provide ballistic missiles to Russia.
Iran strongly refused to deliver missiles to Russia, claiming that it had only sent drones to Russia a few months before the start of the war.
Iranian officials also discussed this week with IAEA’s Chiefrafaer Grossi, and the country opposed what was called “unfair interference” in its involvement with the IAEA after the UN Security Council held a meeting on its nuclear programme.
At the closure meeting, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the E3 ambassador and urged them to protest the “misuse” of the UNSC mechanism.
The White House said on Tuesday that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a call that “Iran should not be in a position to destroy Israel.”
Trump’s letter, threat
The US president’s threat is that “all shots” fired by Yemeni Houtis will be seen as a snatch of tension from Iran.
In his true social platform post, Trump said he is offering “so-called intelligence” to Houthis, which is seen online and in Iranian media as a potential military threat to Iranian Zagros warship launched in January.
In a statement Tuesday, Iranian forces rejected speculation that was circulating online claiming Zagros was attacked by a projectile, saying the warship was safely locked in Bandar Abbas in Iran’s southern waters.
There was Western speculation that the Iranian-made vessel was the first large-scale signal intelligence (SIGINT) vessel deployed by the Iranian army, and could potentially support Houthis’ operations by providing data.
Telegram channels linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) on Tuesday denied the existence of Iranian naval vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandev Straits and the Indian Ocean.
However, Iranian currency continued to decline this week against the backdrop of the possibility that the US or Israel would attack Iran. RIAL temporarily hit a psychological threshold of 1,000,000 against the US dollar in the market held on Tuesday, regaining some ground today.
While calling for consultations with Tehran under his “maximum pressure” policy, Trump wrote a letter to Iran’s top leader this week.
The text of the letter has not been published, but it is believed that once again presented Iran with the option of either negotiating or military action.
Esmaeli Baghihai, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters this week that the letter was not much different from Trump’s official statement. He said Iran, which refused consultation under maximum pressure, would respond after a thorough review.