Tehran
CNN
–
Iran’s government spokesman Fatem Mohajelani told Iran’s government spokesman Fatem Mohajelani that the prospect of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program “has no point” unless Israel stops attacking her country.
The streets were rather quiet in the Iranian capital, usually a bustling metropolis of over 9 million people. Over the past few days, traffic has increased as Iranians returned to the city after fleeing Israeli bombing during the early days of the conflict.
Despite the voices that the government is exchanging a blow with nuclear power (and waiting to see if they expect a fire from the US), Mohajelani relaxed. The first woman to serve as a spokesman for the Iranian government, was appointed by President Masoud Pezeshkian last August and took over her role a year ago.
She noted that Iran has endured numerous cycles of negotiations on its nuclear activity, but none has led to sustained long-term deals.
“We have experienced two painful experiences over the past few years,” Mohajelani said, pointing to President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the 2018 JCPOA agreement.
Mohajelani said no matter how enthusiastic Trump is to lead Iran to the negotiation table, Iran doesn’t want to be empty-handed again. And before talks begin, Israel’s bombing must stop, she said.
“This time, when this attack happened, we were again in the middle of negotiations,” Mohajelani said. “So, as the authorities have already said, as long as there is an attack, negotiations will be pointless. When the attack stops, we will think about it.”
Israel’s first broad operation on June 13th killed some of the most powerful commanders of the Iranian army and destroyed Iran’s uranium enrichment sites. Since then, daily strikes have damaged nuclear power plants, burned the largest natural gas fields, and wiped out the newsroom of one of the country’s national media channels.
Still, Mohajerani argues that Iran is ready for whatever the Israelis throw at them next.
“Both the government and the Iranian state are completely robust in defense,” she said. “Our military power is fully prepared to prevent such attacks from happening again, in the event that there is a need to practice legitimate defenses.”
So far, at least 430 Iranian civilians have been killed on strike and thousands of other people have been injured, according to the Iranian government. At a Tehran hospital, one woman named Nislin told CNN that she “barely reached the door” after being injured in an Israeli strike. One of her neighbors called it emergency services and brought her to the hospital.
“I had five surgeries,” she said from her hospital bed. “Abdomen, kidneys, liver.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s missile and UAV-led response have killed 24 people in Israel and injured more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli government figures. Iranian missiles struck deeper into Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, with one missile striking by hospitals.
At the heart of the conflict is the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel and the United States have long accused Iran of working towards a nuclear bomb. Speaking to CNN, Mohajelani reiterated what Iranian officials have maintained for many years. Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme is not for weapons production, but for energy production.
“Atomic energy does not mean war for us,” Mohajelani said. “It means life for us. Therefore, we believe that abundance is our right, as the object of enrichment and the subject of life are the same path to us and not leading to war.”
Nevertheless, Israeli officials have cast their bombing campaigns on existential terms, as far as they say Iran’s nuclear program poses a threat to the entire planet.
“We will act to prevent the great threat of not only being Israel’s existence, but also being present in the entire region, Europe and the world order,” Israel’s Gideon Saa declared at the site of Lishon Legion’s Iranian missile strike.
It remains unclear whether Washington will take part in the fight. Trump has said he will decide whether to intervene within the next two weeks, but has already joined Israeli officials to publicly reflect on the benefits of assassinating Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Super Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in his June 17th Truth Social Post.
Mohajelani was dull when asked about the possibility that Israel or the United States would target its head of state directly.
“This shows that Israel does not understand unity among the Iranian people,” Mohajerani said. “Israel should not do anything that cannot be paid for the damage. The Iranian people are supporting their leaders.”
“For all Iranians today, Iran is a unified concept and certainly should not be forgotten.”