A US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities could prompt the government of the Islamic Republic to step up its efforts to build an atomic bomb, The Washington Post writes. According to the newspaper, such a scenario is possible if Iran retains the ability to enrich uranium after the attacks.
Tehran has not yet taken such action, the publication notes, citing data from US intelligence agencies. The newspaper called US President Donald Trump's decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities "an extraordinary gamble with a high risk of escalation", noting that no US president has ever dared to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran is not currently discussing the option of entering into negotiations regarding the situation in the region and the US strike on nuclear facilities. "Of course, I am in contact with Tehran. I do not yet have accurate information about the level of damage, but I do not think that this matters now. Strikes on nuclear facilities are in themselves an unforgivable violation of international law and must be condemned. There is currently no talk of preparing for negotiations. But in principle, the door to diplomacy must remain open," the minister said at a press conference in Istanbul, broadcast by Turkish television channel TRT World.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened a "harsh response" to the US strikes on nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, and called US military bases in the Middle East "vulnerable." "Today's aggression by the US terrorist regime forced the Islamic Republic of Iran, within its legitimate right to self-defense, to resort to measures that go beyond the understanding and illusory calculations of the aggressors. They must be prepared to regret it," the IRGC said in a statement.