Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that if Tehran's enemies strike the country's nuclear facilities, the country's youth will be ready to simply rebuild, after reports about possible Israeli attack on the country’s nuclear program this year.
"They threaten us that they will hit nuclear facilities... If you (the enemy) strike a hundred of those we will build a thousand other ones," Pezeshkian said during a speech in Bushehr, home to one of Iran’s biggest nuclear plants.
"You can hit the buildings and places but you cannot hit those who build it... you cannot erase the minds of our scientists.”
US President Donald Trump raised on Monday the possibility of Israel hitting Iran in an interview with Fox News saying he would prefer to make a deal with Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not to happen," Trump said.
On Thursday, the commander of Iran's conventional air force Hamid Vahedi said: "We tell all countries, friends and foes alike, that our country's doctrine is defensive, but we will respond with force against any enemy attack."
Tit-for-tat strikes between Iran and Israel punctuated last year's Gaza conflict as the years long shadow war between the two archenemies came out in the open.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Israel is considering attacks on Iran's nuclear sites and views its Mideast adversary as vulnerable, citing US intelligence agencies’ assessments in the waning days of the Joe Biden administration.
In January, Iran's atomic energy chief said that thousands of workers are currently involved in constructing the second and third units of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
"Currently, 5,000 people are involved in the construction of the two new units," Mohammad Eslami said during a visit to the site, adding, "Their efforts are ensuring the project progresses with good discipline and speed."
In a sign of growing internal debate, Massih Mohajeri of the Jomhouri Eslami newspaper sharply criticized officials and media figures who brand supporters of negotiations as “infiltrators” and “dishonored elements”, describing this stance as “utterly against freedom of expression.”
Despite Khamenei’s strong opposition to talks with the United States, some Iranian officials and media have continued to discuss the possibility of negotiations.
Though Mohajeri—personally appointed by Khamenei as the paper’s editor—did not name specific targets, his remarks were widely interpreted as aimed at ultraconservative lawmakers and Kayhan, another newspaper funded by Khamenei.
Mohajeri argued that such individuals and media outlets oppose the principles and teachings of Islam and cannot persuade public opinion to reject negotiations.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref reinforced Khamenei’s stance against talks with the Trump administration.
"Both sides should benefit from transactions, but I believe there is no profit in dealing with the United States. Trump has shown that he is not trustworthy," he said, adding that "Trump may be trusted only if he is reformed, and that is unlikely to happen."
Kourosh Ahmadi, a former Iranian diplomat who served at Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York, highlighted what he called a disinformation campaign by Iranian officials aiming to distort Trump’s message to Tehran. He also dismissed as “meaningless” the claim that negotiations are tantamount to surrender, arguing instead that maintaining a tough stance can compel the other side to retreat or modify its position.
Ahmadi added that as it has been stated in a White House document issued last week, "the fact that negotiation has become a taboo in Iran is not understandable."
He said that the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) signed by Trump is aimed at "restoring maximum pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad."
He further characterized Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's statement, that alleged Trump wishes to disarm Iran, as disinformation and fake news and added that only the text that has been signed by Trump should be considered as his and the White House's official view.
However, he noted, "During the first two weeks after his inauguration, Trump created some hope for the start of negotiations with Iran. I have no idea what led to the unexpected shift in his position." Ahmadi suggested that Trump's approach might have been a negotiation tactic, similar to his dealings with Mexico and Panama, where he initially took an aggressive stance but softened his tone once he saw signs of agreement from the other side.
Despite perceptions in Tehran that Trump has taken a harsher stance toward the Islamic Republic, his position remains unchanged from his first term. This time, however, he has balanced his renewed “maximum pressure” strategy with a stronger emphasis on seeking peace through diplomacy.
The former Iranian diplomat urged officials to consider Trump's memorandum and the White House statement within a broader context to avoid being misled. He also cautioned those influenced by the disinformation campaign, emphasizing that "proper decision-making requires accurate information."
In his editorial, Mohajeri emphasized that the Iranian constitution grants everyone the right to express their views, including on negotiations with the United States. However, he reiterated that "Khamenei is the one who has the final say about relations with the United States" and criticized Trump’s approach, stating, "The US president spoke arrogantly and put forward irrational expectations."
"If the US president gives up his arrogant rhetoric and speaks modestly with Iran, then the roads to negotiation are open," he concluded.
Asked about Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's characterization of any negotiations with Washington over Tehran's disputed nuclear program as unwise, Republican Senator Rick Scott said, "I think he's foolish."
"If you look at everything he's been trying to do, it's failed," the Florida Senator said at the sidelines of a bipartisan luncheon, citing setbacks to Iran's network of militant allies in the region at the hands of Israel's US-armed military.
The 15-month campaign has put on the backfoot an array of Islamist armed factions in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have long been funded and armed by Tehran.
Israel decapitated the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon and helped bring about the downfall of the Assad dynasty in Syria, Iran's oldest Arab ally.
The blows and a direct attack on Iran on Oct. 26 have left Iran weakened and brought the issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program and a deal to resolve it in greater focus.
"Clearly everybody would rather them decide not to have a nuclear weapon and stop giving money to their proxies," Scott said. "We feel sorry for the people of Iran, but they're going to have to take matters in their own hand and get a better government."
Trump has said he much prefers a deal over Iran's nuclear program over any military confrontation but reimposed harsh sanctions from his first term.
The renewal of the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign has cheered Iran hawks in Washington, mostly Republicans, who long criticized what they viewed as a permissive attitude by the Joe Biden administration on Iran.
Democrats meanwhile have struggled to mount an effective opposition to Trump's blizzard of executive orders aimed at downsizing government and reining in policy priorities they championed under Biden.
Their qualms with Trump in the foreign policy sphere have mostly focused on the planned gutting of USAID, the world's largest donor of humanitarian aid.
"Quite honestly, Iran has gotten really used to a paper tiger in the White House," Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said. "They no longer have that. And I think we have to flex our muscles and then back up whatever it is we say."
Cramer told Iran International's Arash Aalaei that Khamenei's remarks ought not to shock Washington but rather bring into focus the nature of their adversary, expressing no misgivings about Trump's stated reluctance to punish Iran and preference for an agreement.
"I have no doubt that when (Trump) says he wants to sit down and negotiate, he's going to be negotiating with somebody who he's got a headlock on."