Trump threatens to strike Iran’s nuclear sites again “if necessary”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared Monday that his country will not abandon its nuclear program, particularly uranium enrichment, despite the "severe damage" inflicted on its nuclear facilities by US bombing.

"[Enrichment] is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe..,But obviously we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists…It is a matter of national pride," Araghchi told Bret Baier of Fox News.

The Iranian minister emphasized that any future nuclear agreement must guarantee the Islamic Republic's right to enrich uranium.

Asked if Tehran had salvaged any enriched uranium from the US bombardment, the Iranian minister stated he did not "have detailed information" on the matter, but that the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization is working "to assess exactly what happened to our nuclear materials, our enriched materials."

Trump reacted to Araghci’s comments on Truth Social, saying: “Of course they are [destroyed], just like I said, and we will do it again, if necessary.

“As interviewed by Bret Baier. Fake News CNN should immediately fire their phony ‘reporter’ and apologize to me and the great pilots who ‘OBLITERATED’ Iran's nuclear sites. CNN is a major ratings loser, as is MSDNC!” he added on Truth Social. 

On June 13, ‘Israel’ launched widespread strikes on Iran, sparking a 12-day war between the two countries.

On June 22, the United States joined the conflict, bombing the underground Fordow uranium enrichment facility south of Tehran, and two nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz in central Iran. The actual extent of the damage inflicted by the bombing on these three sites remains unknown.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the strikes a success that "completely destroyed" the sites, lashing out at media reports citing intelligence findings of more conservative assessments.