Iran’s top security official says the country remains committed to its policy of non-weaponization of its nuclear program, adding that withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is possible in response to military and political threats from the United States and the Israeli regime.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei, who serves as the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said in remarks published on Saturday that Iran is still committed to a religious decree by the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, that forbids nuclear weapons.
“We remain committed to the fatwa of the martyred Leader of the Revolution and have not changed our nuclear doctrine, but we do not know what will happen in the future,” Rezaei said in an interview with the Qatari-based news channel Al Jazeera.
The SNSC chief said, however, that what the US and the Israeli regime have done to Iran in the past months, including a military aggression earlier this year and the following campaign of economic and political pressures, allows the country to withdraw from the NPT.
“We have not yet made a decision in this regard, but this issue depends on US behavior,” said Rezaei.
The remarks came after the US and allied European countries forced through a resolution by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran’s case to the United Nations Security Council over alleged non-compliance with the IAEA’s inspection regime.
That comes as Russia and China have opposed any action against Iran concerning IAEA claims, saying the US-Israeli aggression on the country has made it impossible for the IAEA to continue its routine inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Elsewhere in the interview, Rezaei said it is in the interest of the US to accept Iran’s conditions for putting a permanent end to the war of aggression.
“(US President) Donald Trump’s assessments and calculations regarding Iran have been wrong…Trump’s threats will yield no results,” he said.
The long-serving general said that if Washington wants to continue the aggression, Iran will be ready to put up a massive defense.`
“Iran is ready for a fateful war; we are aware of the weaknesses of the US military and are more prepared than ever to confront them,” he said.
Rezaei said that Iran changed its strategy toward the US after Washington withdrew from a memorandum of understanding that was signed in June and sought to permanently end the aggression.
He said Iran has recently tested an anti-ship missile near a US aircraft carrier, adding that the country will target all US bases and interests in the region if it is attacked again.
Iran’s top security official said that Iran has conveyed its conditions for ending the war to the US through Qatar, adding that Tehran is continuing its consultations with Qatari and Pakistani mediators.
“We are waiting for Trump’s response to these conditions. Ending the war on all fronts, the release of our blocked assets, and the end of the naval blockade,” he said.
Rezaei also said that Iran seeks an end to the ongoing war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, adding that he believes the Yemeni armed forces also seek an agreement with Saudi Arabia.
Source: Press tv