Iran will not hesitate to defend its nuclear programme, says foreign ministry

Iran has defended its nuclear programme and will not hesitate to continue doing so, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, a day after Israel and the US vowed to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Reuters has reported.

“Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme is ongoing, and has been for the past three decades, based on Iran’s rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” said Baghaei. “We will definitely not show any weakness in this regard.”

Israel and the US are determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.

“Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home, is Iran,” claimed Rubio.

At least one observer has pointed out the US official’s hypocrisy, noting that Israel has been intensifying its genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem for the past 16 months, using US arms and ammunition. And that Washington has provided diplomatic and political cover for the occupation regime for decades.

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