VP Zarif: Iran never pursued nuclear weapons

Shafaq News/ Iran has
increased its nuclear capabilities since the United States withdrew from the
2015 nuclear deal, Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad
Zarif said on Wednesday.
"We were a year away from
a nuclear weapon when [John] Bolton wrote a memorandum to get [Donald] Trump
out. And today, even the Americans say we are a few days away," Zarif said
at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Rejecting Israel’s claims that
Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons, he said, “Iran has never sought
nuclear weapons…These weapons are developed in secret laboratories, not through
open programs like ours,” he explained.
While Iran maintains that its
nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes, US intelligence agencies and
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reported military nuclear
activities in Iran until 2003. These reports also suggest that Iran’s recent
activities go “beyond civilian necessity.”
Conversely, Israel accuses
Iran of concealing nuclear facilities in fortified mountains and continuing
efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Notably, tensions have
escalated since the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) in 2018 under President Donald Trump.
The JCPOA, signed in 2015
between Iran and the P5+1 nations (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and
Germany), aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting
sanctions. Iran agreed to cap uranium enrichment, reduce its nuclear stockpile,
and allow IAEA inspections.
Following the US exit, Iran
gradually ceased compliance with the JCPOA, significantly increasing its
uranium enrichment.
By 2025, Iran has stockpiled
approximately 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, nearing the 90%
required for weapons-grade material.