IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER ISSUED A VEILED THREAT IN THE SAME SPEECH IN WHICH HE STATED THAT ‘NO ONE IS SEEKING WAR,’ SAYING IT WOULDN’T BE DIFFICULT FOR THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC TO ENRICH URANIUM TO WEAPONS-GRADE LEVELS.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates• Iran’s supreme leader issued a veiled threat in the same speech in which he stated that “no one is seeking war,” saying it wouldn’t be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels amid rising tensions with the U.S., state media reported Wednesday.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, meanwhile, ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government
NEITHER WE, NOR THEM IS SEEKING WAR. THEY KNOW THAT IT IS NOT TO THEIR BENEFIT.
staff on Wednesday to leave Iraq immediately amid escalating tensions with Iran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments late Tuesday came after Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a co-ordinated drone attack on a critical oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
The drone assault is just the latest incident in the Mideast to shake global energy markets, as authorities allege oil tankers anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates were targeted by sabotage. The United States also is deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers into the region in response to the still-unspecified Iran threat, further ramping up tensions a year after President Donald Trump withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Speaking Tuesday in Tehran at an iftar, the traditional dinner Muslims have when breaking their day’s fast during the holy month of Ramadan, Khamenei’s reported comments first focused on him downplaying the chances of a wider conflict in the Mideast with America.
He reportedly told senior officials that his country won’t negotiate with the United States, calling such talks “poison.” But he also said, “Neither we, nor them is seeking war. They know that it is not to their benefit.”
In Wednesday’s edition, the state-run IRAN newspaper carried his comments on the nuclear program, his first since Iran announced it would begin backing away from the accord itself.
Tehran is threatening to resume higher enrichment in 60 days if no new nuclear deal is in place, beyond the 3.67 per cent permitted by the current deal between Tehran and world powers.
Iranian officials have said that they could reach 20 per cent enrichment within four days. Though Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, scientists say the time needed to reach the 90 per cent threshold for weaponsgrade uranium is halved once uranium is enriched to around 20 per cent.
“Achieving 20 per cent enrichment is the most difficult part,” Khamenei said, according to the newspaper. “The next steps are easier than this step.”