BBC Information
Iran’s supreme chief has insisted the US “gained no achievements” from strikes on its nuclear amenities, in his first public deal with since a ceasefire with Israel was agreed on Tuesday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned the strikes didn’t “accomplish something vital” to disrupt Iran’s nuclear programme, and described the retaliation in opposition to an American air base in Qatar as dealing a “heavy blow”.
It got here as Washington doubled down on its evaluation that the strikes had severely undermined Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned intelligence gathered by the US and Israel indicated the operation “considerably broken the nuclear programme, setting it again by years”.
Beforehand, US President Donald Trump mentioned the strikes in opposition to three key nuclear websites inside Iran “completely obliterated” them, and has responded furiously to studies citing unnamed American officers suggesting the harm might have been much less intensive than anticipated.
Talking alongside senior normal Dan Caine at a Pentagon press convention on Thursday morning, Hegseth mentioned the mission was a “historic success” that had “rendered [Iranian] enrichment amenities inoperable”.
Throughout an at instances combative trade with reporters, Hegseth additionally mentioned the US was “not conscious of any intelligence” which indicated the enriched uranium had moved out of Fordo – the deeply buried facility which the US focused with highly effective so-called buster bombs – previous to the strikes.
Khamenei, who had been largely out of public view since direct battle with Israel broke out on 13 June, launched a televised deal with on Thursday morning, ending a week-long public silence.
The supreme chief has reportedly been sheltering in a bunker and limiting communications, which has sparked hypothesis about his whereabouts. Iranian authorities didn’t disclose the place he was talking from on Thursday, although a senior official acknowledged he was in a protected place earlier this week.
Khamenei used Thursday’s video deal with to threaten to hold out extra strikes on US bases within the Center East if Iran was attacked once more, and declared victory over each Israel and the US.
Khamenei mentioned Trump had “exaggerated” the affect of the nuclear web site strikes, including: “They could not accomplish something and didn’t obtain their goal.”
Referencing the assault on the US air base in Qatar, Khamenei mentioned: “This incident can also be repeatable sooner or later, and will any assault happen, the associated fee for the enemy and the aggressor will undoubtedly be very excessive.”
Nobody was killed throughout that assault, which Trump mentioned had been flagged earlier than it was launched. The US says the bottom was not broken.
Direct confrontation broke out between Iran and Israel on 13 June, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned that “if not stopped, Iran may produce a nuclear weapon in a really brief time”.
A day earlier the worldwide nuclear watchdog’s board of governors declared Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the primary time in 20 years.
Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian functions alone and that it had by no means sought to develop a nuclear weapon.
On Thursday, Iran accepted a parliamentary invoice calling for an finish to the nation’s co-operation with the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA), that means it’s not dedicated to permitting nuclear inspectors into its websites.
Iran’s well being ministry mentioned 610 individuals have been killed in the course of the 12 days of air assaults, whereas Israeli authorities mentioned 28 have been killed.
The US grew to become straight concerned final weekend, placing amenities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, earlier than Trump sought to quickly mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
The ceasefire appeared shaky at first, with Iranian strikes and Israel earlier than an outburst from Trump
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi mentioned on Wednesday that there was an opportunity Tehran had moved a lot of its extremely enriched uranium elsewhere because it got here underneath assault.
