Iran could consider acquiring a nuclear weapon if attacked by the United States or its allies, a senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Monday following US threats.
The statement came after Khamenei vowed to retaliate if US President Donald Trump made good on his threat to bomb the Islamic Republic unless it agreed to a deal curbing its nuclear programme.
“We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself,” Khamenei’s adviser, Ali Larijani, said in a televised interview on Monday.
“Iran does not want to do this, but … (it) will have no choice,” he added. “If at some point you (the US) move towards bombing by yourself or through Israel, you will force Iran to make a different decision.”
Trump had earlier stated that “there will be bombing” if Iran did not agree to a nuclear deal.
It remains unclear whether the US was contemplating a direct strike on Iran or would involve its regional ally, Israel.
However, Iran appears to have taken the threat from the US President more seriously than previous warnings.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Western and regional experts, has long desired conflict with Iran.
“They threaten to do mischief,” Khamenei said, referring to the US remarks during a speech marking the end of Ramadan. “If it is carried out, they will receive a strong counterattack.”
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Iran’s ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned what he called “warmongering provocations” by the US.
“The Americans have at least 10 bases in the region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops,” warned General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“Someone who is in a glass room shouldn’t throw stones at anyone,” said Hajizadeh, who is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
Meanwhile, Iranian leadership has repeatedly claimed that their country possesses capabilities far beyond those of its adversaries, particularly Israel.
They have also warned that war with Iran could lead to the destruction of both Israel and US forces stationed in the region.
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