Energy News Beat Publishers Note: There is evidence that Iran has been previously seeking nuclear weapons, and this may be a political excuse to justify what they are already doing.
Iran could eventually be forced to develop a nuclear weapon if the U.S. and other western nations continue to “push it into a corner,” the intelligence minister said in remarks likely to be seized on by the country’s foes.
Mahmoud Alavi reiterated Iran’s longstanding position that its current nuclear program is for peaceful use, citing a decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that forbids the development of warheads. But he told state television on Monday that the Islamic Republic may be pushed toward them.
“If you trap a cat in a corner then it might end up behaving in ways that it wouldn’t if it were free,” Alavi said.
“If they push Iran toward that direction, then it’s not Iran’s fault, it’s the fault of those who are pushing, because Iran has no need for such a program in normal circumstances,” he said.
The U.S. and Iran are locked in a diplomatic stalemate over which side should make the first move toward reviving the nuclear deal that was abandoned by former President Donald Trump three years ago.