Tehran, Iran–Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has categorically rejected the Western states claim that Tehran intends to build nuclear weapons, saying that the high-level enrichment was a response to Westerners reneging on their promises.
The president has defended his country’s enrichment of uranium to 60% purity level, saying it was a response to European states not living up to their end of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
In an interview on CNN, Raisi categorically rejected the country’s enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels, saying, “It was officially announced that the action that we intend to take is not intended to reach nuclear weapons of any type or a military dimension of any type, but it is… a response for the lack of commitment demonstrated by the Europeans.”
Iran announced that it was enriching uranium to 60% in 2021, following an attack on its above-ground nuclear facility in Natanz, which Tehran blamed on Israeli regime, according to the American media outlet.
He also reiterated Tehran’s long-standing conviction that the Islamic Republic does not plan to acquire a nuclear bomb.
In the interview with CNN, Raisi also said the US-mediated efforts to normalize Israeli relations with Persian Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, “will see no success.”