“We planned to avoid any interruption in the nuclear industry process,” said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
Iran plans to resume its nuclear program despite the war with Israel, the head of the Islamic Republic’s Atomic Energy Organization was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
“We planned to avoid any interruption in the nuclear industry process,” Mohammad Eslami told the state-run Mehr news agency in an interview. The article did not distinguish between military and civilian nuclear activity.
“Preparations for the revival [of the nuclear program] were foreseen in advance, and our plan is to not allow any interruption in the production and service process,” he added.
Israel attacked Iran earlier this month in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a pre-emptive campaign with the goal of eliminating the nuclear and ballistic missile threat to Israel by the Iranian regime.
Prior to the strike, the United States and Iran had been engaged in nuclear talks, however, U.S. President Donald Trump had set a 60-day deadline for the negotiations. The Israeli military campaign began on day 61, after Tehran announced it would not give up uranium enrichment and increase the scope of its nuclear program.
Image - JNS/New-generation centrifuges on display in Tehran during Iran's National Nuclear Energy Day, April 10, 2021. Credit: Iranian Presidency Office/WANA.