TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said his country would rebuild its nuclear facilities if attacked, following US media reports that the Zionist entity was likely to launch a strike on key Iranian nuclear sites. “They are threatening us that they will attack our Natanz nuclear facility. Come and attack it. It is the brains of our children that built it,” Pezeshkian said during a visit to the southern province of Bushehr.

“If you destroy a hundred (nuclear facilities), our children will build a thousand,” he said, without directly referring to the US reports. The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing US intelligence, that the Zionist entity was “likely to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025”. The report referred to “two potential strike options, each involving the United States providing support in the form of aerial refueling

as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance”. The Wall Street Journal had earlier carried a similar report.

The reports came as tensions soared after US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy over allegations that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran has consistently denied the allegations. At the same time, Trump called for striking a deal with Iran. “I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” Trump told the New York Post on Friday, adding: “If we made the deal, (the Zionist entity) wouldn’t bomb them.”

Pezeshkian brushed off those remarks, saying “they do not want to talk to us, they want us to be humiliated... and we won’t be”. “We are able to solve many of our own problems by relying on our own strengths,” he added. Iranian officials have repeatedly echoed that sentiment since the re-imposition of the “maximum pressure” approach, which saw Washington withdraw from a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 during Trump’s first term.

Tehran adhered to the deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. On Friday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, said there should be no new negotiations with the United States. Trump had earlier called for a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Iran. But Khamenei said “no problem will be solved by negotiating with America.” It came two days after he called for Iran’s military capabilities to be developed to defend it against “evildoers”.

Iran and the Zionist entity traded direct attacks last year for the first time against the backdrop of soaring regional tensions triggered by the Gaza war. On Oct 26, the Zionist entity bombed military sites in Iran, killing four servicemen, in response to an Oct 1 barrage of about 200 missiles from Iran. Some analysts say the Zionist entity inflicted severe damage on Iranian air defenses and missile capacities and could yet launch more wide-scale action against the Islamic republic, while Iran denied any major damage to its facilities.

Pezeshkian also said US sanctions were depriving his people of necessities, vowing his government would find a way to overcome the country’s challenges. “Why are you blocking the people’s access to food, water and medicine?” Pezeshkian said of the sanctions. “They cannot block our path, we will find a way,” he added in remarks broadcast on state television.

Iran has long argued that US sanctions have prevented the delivery of essential medical products, such as those for patients with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin condition. The United States, however, denies its sanctions target medical supplies. Sanctions also indirectly affect Iranians’ food security, as double-digit inflation driven by US measures can hinder cash-strapped households’ ability to make ends meet. – Agencies