Iran says ‘they‘ can destroy facilities, but cannot destroy ‘our nuclear know-how’
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Iran says ‘they‘ can destroy facilities, but cannot destroy ‘our nuclear know-how’")
People watch President Donald Trump’s address at a café after US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Photograph: (Reuters)
Iran’s government, meanwhile, has said that there is no immediate danger to the public after the United States struck three of its nuclear sites. “There is no danger to the people living on the outskirts of our nuclear areas,” spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state television.
Hours after the United States hit three crucial nuclear facilities in Iran, targeting them with bunker buster bombs and Tomahawk missiles, Tehran said on Sunday that its “knowledge” in the nuclear field “cannot be destroyed” by any military assault. “They should know that this industry has roots in our country, and the roots of this national industry cannot be destroyed,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, according to Tasnim news agency.
“Of course, we have suffered damage, but this is not the first time that the industry has suffered damage,” Kamalvandi stressed.
Iran’s government, meanwhile, has said that there is no immediate danger to the public after the United States struck three of its nuclear sites.
“There is no danger to the people living on the outskirts of our nuclear areas,” spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state television. “The people of Natanz, Isfahan and Fordo can continue their lives.”
Earlier, before the US strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said in an interview that if Israel or its allies destroy one nuclear facility or two, Iran can rebuild them because the knowledge is there.
“Suppose they destroy one [nuclear] facility or two, we can rebuild them because the knowledge is there. The technology is there. We have achieved that ourselves,” said Araghchi during his NBC News interview on Friday.
US expecting retaliation, on high alert: Official
Meanwhile, the US is on high alert as it is expecting a retaliation of some sort by Iran following the strikes.
Measures have been increased incrementally over the last two weeks to protect the nearly 40,000 troops in the Middle East region, said a US official, who was not authorised to speak publicly. The Army has been at the third of four levels of alert at most places, the official said. The official further said that Iran’s ability to counterattack has been degraded massively by Israeli airstrikes, but Iran is still believed to have some offensive capacity, including drones that could target US bases in the region.