‘No country can deprive Iran’: Tehran’s atomic energy chief reiterates nuclear enrichment rights amid tensions with US
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘No country can deprive Iran’: Tehran’s atomic energy chief reiterates nuclear enrichment rights amid tensions with US")
Iranians walk past an anti-US billboard installed on a building on Enqelab Square in Tehran on February 17, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Iran’s atomic chief Mohammad Eslami said Tehran cannot be denied its right to nuclear enrichment amid renewed US threats. Trump warned of possible military action as tensions escalate.
Iran’s atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami on Thursday (Feb 19) said that no nation can deprive Tehran of its right to nuclear enrichment. His remarks come after US President Donald Trump once again threatened the Islamic Republic with military action following indirect nuclear talks in Geneva.
“The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel,” said Eslami, in a video published by Etemad daily. “Iran’s nuclear programme is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology.”
The remarks come after a second round of negotiations mediated by Oman was held between Iran and the United States in Geneva on Tuesday (Feb 17). The talks followed an initial round of discussions held in Oman on February 6 after talks collapsed when Israel launched strikes on Iran. The US also joined the brief military escalation targeting Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
On Wednesday (Feb 18), Trump warned the British against giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, saying that the Diego Garcia airbase might be needed to “eradicate a potential attack” by Iran.
“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that amid the US military build-up in the Middle East, the White House has been briefed that the American forces could be ready for an attack by the weekend, but Trump has yet to make a final decision to authorise such military action on Iran.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
