Iranian officials have promised heavy revenge against Israel after recent strikes, in what the incoming Iranian Foreign Minister has claimed destroyed the country’s prestige. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced the assaults. Most importantly, he claims that they focused on homes and killed civilians as a result, specifically going after women and children. We welcome this concerted action from Iranian authorities in this case. They encourage citizens to avoid misinformation by getting their information only from official sources and to ignore rumors that pop up.
The Iranian government has condemned the recent Israeli strikes as terrorism. They say these moves show a broad, new hostility toward their country. Iran’s leadership now faces the challenge of determining whether the United States provided tacit approval for Israel’s actions or if Israel acted independently. This challenge comes against the backdrop of Iran working in recent months to project a new, more conciliatory posture toward Arab states.
Iran’s nuclear program has been the source of heated discussion. The country has long maintained that it has the sovereign right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. This right is enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Iran is party to. Tehran’s increased stockpiles of highly enriched uranium are viewed by Iranian officials as a legitimate response to former President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018. Iran’s diplomats had been seriously misled if they thought that negotiations would get them the right to continue any sort of uranium enrichment.
Iran’s negotiating team, composed of experienced diplomats, was aware of Israel’s concerns regarding a potentially unsatisfactory deal with the U.S. However, for decades, the country’s leadership has intransigently set its enrichment of uranium as a red line. Any perceived violation of this right would increase tensions further.
In the wake of last week’s military strikes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has threatened “severe punishment” for those responsible. He reaffirmed Iran’s steadfastness in defending its territorial integrity. He stated, “The world now better understands Iran’s insistence on the right to enrichment, nuclear technology and missile power, and the enemy has made it possible to prove our injustice and righteousness, who is the aggressor and which regime is threatening the security of the region.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was in Oslo at a security conference. He was seen alongside other Arab ministers as the news of the strikes was announced. He claimed that Israeli efforts to derail diplomatic progress are clear.
“The attempts by the Israeli regime and certain special interest groups to derail diplomacy – using a variety of tactics – is abundantly clear for all to see. Our security services are on high alert.” – Abbas Araghchi
Iran’s air defenses failed to respond during the first strikes of their kind since 2018. This issue was further compounded by a series of airstrikes carried out by Israel across Iran in October. The Iranian government remains adamant in its assertion that it does not possess any covert plans to develop a nuclear bomb.