Iran has warned Israel it is likely to review its nuclear stance if its atomic facilities are threatened, as tensions rise following the Islamic republic’s weekend drone and missile attack on Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that Tehran may “reconsider” its nuclear policy, which it has long insisted is purely peaceful but which western powers say has put it on the threshold of becoming a weapons state.
The warning was issued as the US and UK announced new sanctions on Iran’s drone programme in response to Saturday’s strike on Israel.
“Reconsidering the nuclear doctrine and policies of the Islamic republic of Iran . . . is probable and imaginable, if the fake Zionist regime threatens to attack our country’s nuclear centres,” said Major General Ahmad Haq Talab, who oversees the security of Iran’s nuclear installations.
His comments were published in the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s most powerful military force.
Regime hardliners have previously threatened that, during periods of heightened tensions with the west, Iran could withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty, which governs countries’ nuclear facilities.
Haq Talab warned Israel that any aggression against Iran’s facilities would be reciprocated at Israel’s nuclear weapon sites — which the Jewish state has never acknowledged possessing.
Israel has pledged to respond to last weekend’s Iranian attack, in which Tehran fired more than 300 missiles and drones.
That assault prompted Washington on Thursday to announce sanctions on 16 individuals and two companies that aid the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, such as drones, in co-ordination with measures announced by the UK.
“We are committed to acting collectively to increase economic pressure on Iran,” US President Joe Biden said, adding that his administration “will not hesitate to take all necessary action” to hold Tehran accountable.
