Iran has begun military drills focused on "enemy movements", according to state media reports on Thursday, as tensions with the US and Israel mount over the country's nuclear programme.
The country also announced plans to open a new uranium enrichment facility, following accusations from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it has breached its non-proliferation commitments.
Tensions escalated late on Wednesday after former President Donald Trump ordered the evacuation of non-essential staff from the US embassy in Baghdad. According to CBS News, family members of military personnel have also been authorised to voluntarily leave other countries in the region.
Several US media outlets have reported that Israel was considering launching a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. CBS News reported that Israeli officials had informed their US counterparts that preparations for such a strike were already underway.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have reportedly convened to discuss a potential response to any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. According to The New York Times, Iran’s contingency plan includes launching a counterstrike involving hundreds of ballistic missiles aimed at Israel in the immediate aftermath.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel may strike Iran's nuclear facilities but that Tehran can avoid conflict by ceding more ground in talks with Washington.
"I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen," Trump told reporters when asked if Israel would attack Iran.
Italy has no indication there will be an Israeli attack on Iran in the near future, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday.
"I don't know if there will be an Israeli attack on Iran, we have no signs, apart from what the Americans have done, that there will be an attack in the immediate future", Tajani told reporters.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because it could become a dangerous place, adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
(Reuters)
The top US general said on Thursday that a new report from the UN nuclear watchdog was troubling and the United States was watching the situation develop closely.
"The IAEA report is certainly troubling," General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
He told lawmakers that the international community appeared to be thinking about what they would do about the IAEA's latest resolution - which declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
(Reuters)
President Massoud Pezeshkian has said Iran will continue enriching uranium, in defiance of a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors.
Speaking during a visit to Ilam Province on Thursday, Pezeshkian said: "We will continue with enrichment. We will carry on with this process."
His remarks were aired live by the state broadcaster's rolling news network IRINN2.
It was his first official response to the IAEA's four-page resolution, passed earlier the same day, addressing concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.
"I myself do not even understand how one is supposed to go along with them so that they don't act with mischief," Pezeshkian said, accusing Western countries of denying Iranians the right to "stand on their own feet and live independently".
He said Western powers would not be able to halt Iran's nuclear progress. "It is a naive illusion for Western countries to think they can stop this process," Pezeshkian said.
France on Thursday accused Iran of a "deliberate" escalation of nuclear tensions, following a UN atomic watchdog resolution declaring Tehran in breach of its obligations.
Paris denounces Iran's "deliberate pursuit of nuclear escalation," said a French foreign ministry spokesman, urging Tehran to return to the negotiating table. Iran earlier vowed to "significantly" increase its output of enriched uranium in defiance of US demands.
Iran's mission to the UN responded to rising tensions with the US in a statement on X, rejecting accusations that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
"Threats of 'overwhelming force' won't change facts: Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and US militarism only fuels instability," the mission wrote, criticising CENTCOM's role in the region.
It added: "Diplomacy, not militarism, is the only path forward."
Iranian officials have renewed warnings against the passage of a draft resolution targeting Tehran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting, threatening strong countermeasures if it is adopted.
Iran FM Araqchi warned the E3 of 'strong reaction' if the IAEA resolution accusing Iran of breaching its nuclear safeguards, citing concerns about undeclared nuclear material, passes a vote set for Thursday.
In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused the E3, Britain, France, and Germany, of violating their obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), which effectively collapsed following the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.
"Another major strategic mistake by the E3 will compel Iran to react STRONGLY," Araqchi wrote.
He criticised the European powers for what he described as a shift from diplomacy to confrontation.
"Instead of showing remorse or seeking to facilitate diplomacy, the E3 is promoting confrontation through the absurd demand that Iran be punished for exercising its rights under the JCPOA in response to the non-performance of its counterparts," he said.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and lead nuclear negotiator, reinforced Araqchi's message.
He warned that Iran was ready to take retaliatory measures if the IAEA adopts what he called a "political" resolution, likely to pass without consensus.
Iran has consistently argued that it has acted within its rights under the JCPOA, especially given what it sees as the failure of other signatories to meet their own commitments after the US reimposed sweeping sanctions in 2018.
Britain is monitoring the situation in the Middle East but has no update on staffing in the region, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday after the United States announced it was moving some personnel due to security concerns.
"The safety of our staff is clearly our top priority so we are monitoring the situation closely but I don't have an update ... in terms of any partial evacuation or otherwise of our own embassies," the spokesperson told reporters.
Likewise, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that there is no reason to change the diplomatic personnel staffing in the Middle East at this stage.
"There is no reason that would justify a change in our diplomatic personnel at the moment, but we are following the situation closely," the spokesperson told reporters.
(Reuters)
Iran's retaliation to any Israeli aggression will be "more forceful and destructive" than in past offensives, Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told state media on Thursday, after Tehran said it had been alerted of a potential attack.
Israel and Iran exchanged fire twice last year, the first such direct attacks between the region's most entrenched enemies.
The EU urged Iran Thursday to exercise "restraint" after Tehran vowed to build a new uranium enrichment facility in reaction to a UN nuclear watchdog resolution declaring it in breach of its obligations.
"We call on Iran to restore full cooperation with the agency and fully implement its obligations," said EU foreign policy spokesman Anouar El Anouni, as regional tensions flared ahead of weekend nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.
"We call on Iran to show restraint and avoid any step that would further escalate the situation," he added, in reference to Iran's promise to "significantly" increase enrichment activities.
The United States is restricting travel for government employees and their family members outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva cities until further notice due to increased regional tensions, the US Embassy in Israel said in a notice on Thursday.
(Reuters)
Israel on Thursday urged the international community to "respond decisively" and prevent its long-time foe Iran from developing nuclear weapons after the United Nations nuclear watchdog found Tehran in "non-compliance" with its obligations.
"Iran has consistently obstructed IAEA's verification and monitoring, it removed inspectors, and it sanitised and concealed suspected undeclared locations in Iran," Israel's foreign ministry said on X.
"These actions undermine the global non-proliferation regime and pose an imminent threat to regional and international security and stability."
Iran announced counter-measures to the International Atomic Energy Agency's resolution declaring it in breach of non-proliferation obligations, state TV said on Thursday, including the opening of a new enrichment site and upgrading of centrifuges in Fordow nuclear facility.
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