Salehi Vows to Accelerate Atomic Program if Iran Nuclear Deal Collapses

Iranian nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi blasted Donald Trump Administration for not respecting international commitments, saying that the US president decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers “put him on the loser’s side.”

while the Islamic Republic hopes that the nuclear deal would survive the US withdrawal, Iran’s nuclear program would come out stronger than ever if it didn’t, the Iranian nuclear chief said.

Salehi said Trump was “on the loser’s side” of history, adding that “that deal could have paved the way for building the trust and confidence that we had lost.”

According to the Iranian nuclear chief, although Trump “thinks he can, you know, continue for some time but certainly I do not think he will benefit from this withdrawal, certainly not.”

“If we have to go back and withdraw from the nuclear deal, we certainly do not go back to where we were before. We will be standing on a much, much higher position,” Salehi stressed, referring to Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity, including the construction of a new facility at the Natanz uranium enrichment center.

The nuclear chief also warned that the “consequences” would be “harsh” if the country’s nuclear scientists, often believed to be targeted by Israeli intelligence in recent years, continued to be attacked. Iran’s nuclear scientists have faced over half a dozen assassination attempts between 2007 and 2015, five of them successful.