{"id":1878,"date":"2025-07-23T08:35:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T08:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/iran-ready-for-war-with-israel-will-not-halt-nuclear-programme-pezeshkian\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T08:35:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T08:35:44","slug":"iran-ready-for-war-with-israel-will-not-halt-nuclear-programme-pezeshkian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/iran-ready-for-war-with-israel-will-not-halt-nuclear-programme-pezeshkian\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran ready for war with Israel, will not halt nuclear programme: Pezeshkian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country is prepared for any war Israel might wage against it, adding he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries, while confirming Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n

Pezeshkian made the comments in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday, one of his first since the end of the 12-day conflict<\/a> with Israel last month, in which the United States intervened on Israel\u2019s behalf, launching strikes on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n

The comments come as Western nations say they are seeking a solution to Iran\u2019s ongoing nuclear ambitions in the wake of the conflict, amid reports<\/a> that strikes on its nuclear facilities were less damaging than claimed by Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fully prepared for any new Israeli military move, and our armed forces are ready to strike deep inside Israel again,\u201d Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Iran was not relying on the ceasefire that ended the 12-day war to hold, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not very optimistic about it,\u201d said Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why we have prepared ourselves for any possible scenario and any potential response. Israel has harmed us, and we have also harmed it. It has dealt us powerful blows, and we have struck it hard in its depths, but it is concealing its losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Israel\u2019s strikes, which assassinated leading military figures and nuclear scientists, and damaged nuclear facilities, had sought to \u201celiminate\u201d Iran\u2019s hierarchy, \u201cbut it has completely failed to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

More than 900 people were killed in Iran, large numbers of them civilians, and at least 28 people were killed in Israel before a ceasefire took hold on June 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enrichment programme will continue<\/h2>\n

Pezeshkian said Iran would continue its uranium enrichment programme despite international opposition, saying the development of its nuclear abilities would be carried out \u201cwithin the framework of international laws\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201c[US President Donald] Trump says that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and we accept this because we reject nuclear weapons and this is our political, religious, humanitarian and strategic position,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in diplomacy, so any future negotiations must be according to a win-win logic, and we will not accept threats and dictates.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the claim from Trump \u201cthat our nuclear programme is over is just an illusion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nuclear capabilities are in the minds of our scientists and not in the facilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pezeshkian\u2019s comments echoed earlier remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said<\/a> in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News aired Monday that Tehran would never abandon its uranium enrichment programme, but was open to a negotiated solution to its nuclear ambitions, in which it would guarantee that the programme was for peaceful purposes in response for the lifting of sanctions.<\/p>\n

Israel sought to \u2018overthrow\u2019 leadership<\/h2>\n

Pezeshkian also addressed an attempt<\/a> by Israel to assassinate him at a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, which was reported to have left him with minor injuries.<\/p>\n

Asked about the assassination attempt, he said it had been part of a plan by Israeli commanders to target Iran\u2019s political leadership in the wake of its assassination of senior military figures, in a bid \u201cto put the country into chaos in order to overthrow it completely\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the plan had failed, he said.<\/p>\n

He also stressed that Tehran\u2019s strikes on Qatar\u2019s Al Udeid base in the wake of US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities had not been an attack on Qatar and its people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not even have a thought or imagination that there should be hostility or rivalry between us and the state of Qatar,\u201d he said, adding that he had called<\/a> Qatar\u2019s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the day of the strikes to explain his position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say clearly and honestly that we did not attack the State of Qatar, but we attacked a base for America that bombed our country while all our intentions towards Qatar and its people are good and positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talks with European powers to resume<\/h2>\n

Araghchi said on Monday that Iran\u2019s Atomic Energy Organization is still evaluating how the attacks last month had affected Iran\u2019s enriched material, saying Tehran would soon inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings.<\/p>\n

He said Iran had not stopped cooperation with the IAEA, adding that any request for the IAEA to send inspectors back to Iran would be \u201ccarefully considered\u201d.<\/p>\n

IAEA inspectors left Iran earlier this month after Pezeshkian signed a law<\/a> suspending cooperation with the agency.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, talks are set to take place<\/a> between Iran, France, Germany and the UK in Turkiye on Friday.<\/p>\n

The three European parties to the former Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action<\/a>, which Tehran signed with several world powers in 2015 before the US pulled out in 2018, have said Tehran\u2019s failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country is prepared for any war Israel might wage against it, adding he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries, while confirming Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. Pezeshkian made the comments in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera aired on … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}