Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said this week that Tehran has no intention of abandoning its nuclear enrichment program, despite what he described as “serious and severe” damage inflicted by Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last month.
In an interview with Fox News, Araghchi confirmed that Iran’s enrichment activities have been paused due to the extent of the damage but said the program will resume. “Obviously, we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists,” he said. “Now, more than that, it is a question of national pride.”
The interview comes ahead of renewed talks scheduled for Friday in Istanbul between Iran and the three European powers that signed the 2015 nuclear deal — Britain, France and Germany — collectively known as the E3. The meeting will mark the first round of negotiations since last month’s brief conflict between Iran and Israel, during which U.S. forces also carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear targets.
Araghchi said Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is still evaluating the damage but indicated that the facilities at Natanz and Arak had been hit hard. “The enrichment is stopped because the damages are serious and severe,” he said. He declined to say whether any of the already enriched material remained intact.
U.S. President Donald Trump responded Monday night on his Truth Social platform, posting a message referencing Araghchi’s remarks. “Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, on the Iran Nuclear Sites, ‘Damages are very severe, they are destroyed.’ Of course they are, just like I said — and we will do it again, if necessary!”
Trump also criticized CNN for reporting that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure had not been entirely dismantled. “Fake News CNN should immediately fire their phony ‘reporter’ and apologize to me and the great pilots who ‘OBLITERATED’ Iran’s nuclear sites,” he wrote.
The 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran, triggering a gradual unraveling of the agreement. Since then, Iran has violated several of its commitments, though the deal formally remains in effect until October.
European officials have warned that unless a resolution is reached by late August, they may invoke the “snapback” mechanism, which would reinstate all previously lifted U.N. sanctions. Germany has said the deadline for triggering the mechanism is October 18, 2025.
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Despite European pledges to maintain the deal after the U.S. withdrawal, efforts to establish a mechanism for circumventing U.S. sanctions have largely failed. Many Western companies exited the Iranian market, worsening the country’s economic crisis.
Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused the European powers of failing to uphold their side of the agreement. “Iran considers the Europeans responsible for negligence in implementing the deal,” a ministry spokesperson said. The ministry warned that reimposing international sanctions would further complicate the situation.