Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Sunday, July 17, 2022
Top Iranian official: We have technical capabilities to manufacture nuclear bomb
An Iranian cleric looks at domestically built surface-to-surface missiles at a military show marking the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque, in Tehran, Iran, on February 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says his country has “the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb.”
Kamal Kharazi, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, tells Al Jazeera, “It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so.”
He says negotiations on a return to the nuclear deal with the US are difficult due to distrust between the sides.
He claims that Israel “is in a phase of weakness, and US President Joe Biden’s support for it will not bring it back to the fore.”
He also warns that “targeting our security from neighboring countries will be met with a response to these countries and a direct response to Israel.”
