Iran to Pursue Nuclear Weapons in Response to Israeli Strike on Nuclear Sites

 

Iran has issued a warning to Israel, stating that if Israel proceeds with retaliatory actions following last week's attack, Iran will respond in kind and may also pursue the development of a nuclear weapon.

 

On Thursday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) made this announcement in response to Israel's promise of a retaliation for Iran's unprecedented attacks on Israel. These attacks were carried out as a response to the suspected targeting of Tehran's consulate in Syria by the Israeli military.

 

According to Brigadier General Ahmad Haghtalab of the IRGC, Iran has identified Israel's nuclear sites and possesses all the necessary information to target them. The IRGC division responsible for protecting Iranian nuclear facilities is prepared to launch strong missile strikes to destroy these designated targets if Israel initiates an attack.

 

Furthermore, Haghtalab's statement also suggests that Iran may reconsider its policy of refraining from building a nuclear bomb if Israel continues to threaten its nuclear centers. This is the most direct and highest-level warning from Iran regarding the possibility of pursuing nuclear weapons.

 

Iran's top nuclear facilities, particularly those in Natanz, have been subjected to numerous sabotage attacks attributed to Israel. These attacks have occurred within the context of a shadow war spanning over a decade, during which several Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated.

 

It is important to note that Israel has never directly targeted Iranian soil or its nuclear facilities. However, in March 2022, the IRGC announced the establishment of a new nuclear security command unit to counteract these attacks and claimed to have foiled yet another attempted attack.

 

Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 60 percent, a short technical step away from the 90 percent enrichment needed for an atomic bomb. The country also has enough fissile material for multiple bombs, making it a threshold nuclear state. However, it has not yet begun the additional steps necessary to construct a bomb, as per the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and US intelligence assessments. Despite the gradual breakdown of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after the US withdrew in 2018, Tehran has maintained that it has no intentions of pursuing a nuclear weapon. 

 

The recent warning comes as Iranian leaders have vowed a swift and forceful response if Israel were to launch an attack. Iranian state media executive and adviser Hassan Abedini shared photos of a meeting with Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the aerospace chief of the IRGC, on Thursday. Hajizadeh reportedly stated that the IRGC refrained from using its main ballistic missiles in a recent attack, including the Khorramshahr, Sajil, Haj Qassem, Kheibar Shekan-2, and the Fattah family of hypersonic missiles. He mentioned that the IRGC utilized only "minimum capability" and is prepared for another significant attack, likely in response to US military officials' claims that Iran had used a substantial portion of its long-range ballistic missile arsenal.