A senior Revolutionary Guards general threatened on Thursday to target Israel’s “nuclear facilities” if it strikes Iranian atomic sites, state media reported, anticipating retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented weekend attack.Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2019 that Iran could have developed nuclear weapons but would not do so because Islam forbids their use.
US and other Western officials have said that the continued expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme suggests military aims.
In 2018 the United States unilaterally withdrew from a landmark deal meant to curb Iran’s nuclear activities while providing some relief from crippling Western sanctions.
But Iran has since gradually reduced its commitment to the terms imposed by the 2015 accord, and diplomatic efforts to revive it have long stalled as some sanctions have been re-imposed.
The majority of Iran’s known nuclear sites, including the uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordo, are located in the country’s centre.
Iran’s only nuclear power plant is located in the southern port city of Bushehr.
According to Haghtalab, Iran has “identified” Israeli nuclear centres and holds “necessary information of all targets”.
Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but has never admitted so.
“Hands are on the trigger to fire powerful missiles for the total destruction of determined targets,” the Iranian general said.
On Monday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Iran had closed its nuclear facilities “for security reasons” on the day of its attack on Israel.
Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace unit that led the attack on Israel, said on Thursday that Iran had only used “old weapons and minimal power” for it.
“At this stage, we have not used” ballistic missiles, he said, arguing Iran has “overcome the maximum capacity” of Israel and its allies “with minimal power”.
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