Tensions soar as US president vows to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions

US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran’s ongoing uranium enrichment program despite recent US airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear sites, expressing incredulity at Tehran’s defiance and vowing to halt the nuclear ambitions altogether.

Speaking from his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Trump dismissed Iran’s persistence as “stupid” and condemned the regime’s rhetoric following what he described as a “decisive military blow,” Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“They got the hell knocked out of them and they…I don’t think they know it,” he told reporters. “I actually don’t think they know it.”

Trump’s remarks came shortly after a meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, during which he voiced astonishment that Iran “still talk[s] about enrichment,” despite the extensive damage inflicted by a 12-day Israeli and US offensive targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Esfahan, and Natanz in late June. “Who would do that? You just come out of something that’s so bad, and they talk about, we want to continue enrichment,” he said.

The airstrikes represented the most significant direct US military intervention against Iran’s nuclear program in recent years. In retaliation, Iran launched missile attacks on Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar—the largest US military installation in the Middle East—which officials say were intercepted without causing casualties or significant damage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stood firm on the enrichment program, describing it as both “a scientific success and a patriotic symbol.” “Our enrichment is so dear to us,” Araghchi stated, underscoring the program’s importance to Iran’s national pride. He also affirmed Iran’s commitment to ongoing nuclear negotiations with European powers following “serious, frank and detailed” discussions in Istanbul last week.

Trump characterized the entire situation as “a con job,” asserting, “Iran was beaten up very badly, for good reason. We cannot have them have a nuclear weapon.”

By Vafa Guliyeva