SAEDNEWS: Iran’s ambassador to Russia has said that Tehran’s nuclear programme remains an “indisputable and legitimate right” and will not be subject to negotiation, in the wake of recent joint Israeli and American attacks on key Iranian nuclear and military sites.
According to Saed News, Kazem Jalali made the remarks in a forceful interview with the Russian state news agency Tass, in which he described the strikes as a catalyst for national resilience. “The attacks strengthened Iran’s determination to build a desirable future for the country,” Jalali said, adding that Iran’s “intellectual and scientific elite” would continue to defend the country’s nuclear programme with “adamant resolve.”
The comments come less than a month after a 12-day war that erupted on June 13 when Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. The onslaught, which included assassinations of senior Iranian scientists and commanders, killed more than 1,000 people — the majority of them civilians. The United States later entered the conflict, launching bunker-busting bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles at nuclear installations in Natanz, Esfahan, and Fordow.
Jalali condemned the air raids on civilian nuclear facilities and dismissed any notion of engaging in talks under ongoing aggression. “No negotiations can take place under active Israeli aggression,” he said, questioning Washington’s credibility as a diplomatic actor. “Why would the United States bomb our nuclear sites if it genuinely sought meaningful negotiations?”
Despite the hardened tone, the ambassador reiterated Iran’s official stance that it remains open to dialogue. “We have never walked away from the negotiating table,” Jalali said, insisting that “rebuilding trust in the dialogue process” remains Tehran’s primary condition for re-engaging with Washington.
The strikes have further inflamed tensions in the region and appear to have reinforced Iran’s long-standing position that its nuclear programme is a sovereign right — one not up for discussion, even under the threat of war.
