The Iranian government says nothing can come in the way of the country’s peaceful nuclear program and that the recent incident in one of its nuclear sites would not affect Iran’s uranium enrichment level.
Ali Rabiei, the administration's spokesman, made the comments at a press conference in the capital Tehran on Tuesday.
Referring to an incident at Natanz nuclear facility last week, Rabiei said, “Fortunately, there were no casualties, no radioactive radiation and no impact on our activities in the country's peaceful nuclear program.”
“Certainly, if we come to the conclusion that there has been foreign interference in this incident, we will respond appropriately,” he added.
The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, on Thursday reported an incident at the Natanz nuclear complex but emphasized that there has been no damage to the main uranium enrichment facility.
He said the incident caused no casualties and did not affect the activities at the complex.
During the presser on Tuesday, Rabiei also denounced US efforts to extend an arms embargo on Iran and said any renewal of the restrictions would be a “blatant and unforgivable” violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
Warning Washington of countermeasures, Rabiei added that countries cannot choose to act selectively when it comes to the resolution, or the 2015 Iran nuclear deal it endorses.
Under the Resolution 2231, the arms embargo on Iran will be lifted in October 2020; however, the US says it will use a range of options to prevent this and use a Security Council provision to block the expiration of ban.
While the US is no longer a party to the Iran nuclear deal, it recently launched a campaign to renew the Iran arms ban — in place since 2006/2007 -- through a resolution at the Security Council, but Russia and China are most likely to veto it.
Russia and China - both veto-wielding permanent Security Council members - have already declared their opposition to the US plan.