Iran’s nuclear work will go on despite attempts to disrupt it: Iran’s UN mission

A senior Iranian diplomat says the country makes decisions on its nuclear energy program based on national interests less than a week after the assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh that Tehran blamed on Israel.   

“Iran makes decisions on its nuclear program based on national interests,” the spokesman for Iran’s permanent mission to the UN, Alireza Miryousefi, told Newsweek on Wednesday.

He pointed to Iran’s steps to suspend its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and said the measures wil not be reversed as long as the US refused to adhere to its own obligations and the Europeans also failed to normalize trade ties with Tehran as per the international accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“As you know, the steps taken since the US withdrew from the JCPOA are incremental and will be in effect as long as other parties are in violation of the accord and/or are not fulfilling their obligations,” he said.

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Iran’s Parliament overwhelmingly endorses the outlines of a strategic action plan aimed at countering sanctions imposed on the Iranian nation.

In a unilateral move in defiance of global criticism, President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted under the deal. The Trump administration has also imposed new embargos on Iran, as last-ditch efforts to crush the country’s economy in line with the US’ “maximum pressure” campaign before handing power over to the next administration.

Elsewhere in the interview, the Iranian diplomat commented on Fakhrizadeh’s assassination and said vengeance was still in the works for his killing.

"Retaliation for Dr. Fakhrizadeh's assassination will come in due course against the perpetrators of the terrorist action, and at a time and place of our choosing," Miryousefi said.

Iran has vowed a harsh revenge for the iconic scientist’s murder.

A top nuclear and military scientist, Fakhrizadeh was assassinated on Friday after an explosion and automatic gunfire near the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iran’s nuclear work won’t be disrupted by scientist murder

Separately on Wednesday, Miryousefi told NBC News that Iran’s nuclear work will go on despite attempts to disrupt it.

He said Iran has disrupted numerous plots and will remain vigilant against threats from abroad.

“While a great scientist and a national hero has been brutally murdered by state-ordered terrorists, Iran’s peaceful nuclear program will continue according to plan,” he told NBC News in an email.

He also reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear work, citing a fatwa (religious decree) by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Aytaollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, which bans the development and production of weapons of mass destruction, including nukes, as contrary to Islam.   

“Iran has always maintained that our nuclear program is for peaceful purposes,” said Miryousefi.

In relevant remarks on Tuesday, the Iranian administration’s spokesperson said the terrorist attack that killed Fakhrizadeh was a psychological operation aimed at creating public disenchantment and confusion in Iran’s strategy, but stressed that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and defense know-how is irreversible and impervious to assassination.

Iran nuclear, defense know-how irreversible, impervious to assassination: Government spokesman

The Iranian administration says the country’s nuclear and defense know-how is irreversible and impervious to assassination.

“Definitely, terrorists will not achieve their objectives. Our nuclear and defense know-how cannot be assassinated, nor is it reversible,” Ali Rabiei said at a weekly press briefing.

“Our people were not only unaffected by the psychological dimensions of this assassination… but they became even more vigilant and more united in [safeguarding] national interests and in the face of their real enemies,” he added.

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