Iran will not hesitate to retaliate if Israel moves against it

UAE: A news agency of the news Revolutionary Guards said Iran said on Tuesday that it would provide a “decisive response” against the Israeli move, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel would not allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.

On Monday, Iran said it resumed 20% uranium enrichment at the nuclear facility, a move that coincides with rising tensions with the United States in the final days of President Donald Trump‘s term. The decision is the latest of several Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Netanyahu said the move was intended to develop nuclear weapons and Israel would never allow Tehran to manufacture. Iran says it has never asked for nuclear weapons.

Noor News of Iran quoted an unnamed security official as saying: “This regime (Israel) should know that any aggression against Iran’s interests and security and in any way, whether (Israel) accepts responsibility Does or denies, will face a decisive backlash. Against Iran from this regime. ”

The statement was widely taken by Iranian news agencies and state media.

Separately, Iran gave more details of its enrichment decision on Tuesday, saying it had the capacity to produce 9% to 20% enriched uranium per month.

“Currently, we produce 17 to 20 grams of 20% uranium every hour,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. “We have a monthly production capacity of 8 to 9 kg to reach 120 kg as prescribed by law.”

The decision to enrich 20 percent purity was among several steps outlined in a law passed by Iran’s arch-dominated parliament last month in response to the assassination of the country’s top nuclear scientist, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

Tehran began violating the agreement in a step-by-step response to Trump’s withdrawal in 2018 from the nuclear deal in 2019 and re-enforced US sanctions taken under the deal.