Iran has no plans to further retaliate in response to the US strikes on its nuclear program last month, a senior government official told NBC News on Thursday, adding that the country is open to talks with Washington. However, deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Iran has no intention of stopping its uranium enrichment, confirming that the country will continue developing its nuclear program despite the recent attack.“We have already responded to that, as long as there is no act of aggression being perpetrated by the United States against us, we will not respond again,” Takht-Ravanchi said when asked if more was to come.After the US bombing, Iran fired missiles at the American Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. However, Qatari defenses stopped the attack, as Iran had given a warning ahead of time. This warning seemed to show that Iran was trying to ease tensions following a nearly two-week conflict with Israel that led to direct involvement from the US. President Donald Trump posting on Truth Social, responded in a similarly conciliatory after the Iranian strike,to thank Iran for the advance warning and saying that “they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system.’”Takht-Ravanchi voiced dismay over the missile exchanges while Iran was in talks with Trump about its nuclear program. Iran had been limiting its uranium enrichment under the 2015 nuclear agreement with the US, called the joint comprehensive plan of action, but that deal essentially collapsed in 2018 when Trump pulled the US out.“How can we trust the Americans? We want them to explain as to why they misled us, why they took such an egregious action against our people,” the deputy minister added. But he went on to add that his country would be open to talks.“We are for diplomacy and we are for dialogue,” Takht-Ravanchi said, adding “but the US government needs to convince us that they are not going to use military force while we are negotiating. That is an essential element for our leadership to be in a position to decide about the future round of talks.”Iran has kept quiet about the real effects of the strikes, raising concerns that the attacks may have pushed its nuclear program deeper into secrecy.“The damage is serious,” Takht-Ravanchi said about the American attack, without elaborating further.Iran insists it is not seeking to build a nuclear bomb. As a member of the 1970 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), it has the right to enrich uranium for use in nuclear energy.“Our policy has not changed on enrichment,” Takht-Ravanchi reiterated to NBC. “Iran has every right to do enrichment within its territory. The only thing that we have to observe is not to go for militarization.” He also said that Iran is “ready to engage with others to talk about the scope, the level, the capacity of our enrichment program.”
