Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran will not bow to US pressure to abandon its nuclear program

Iran will not stop uranium enrichment, regardless of the pressure from the US and its allies, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the US and Israeli airstrikes in June failed to knock out the enrichment program, which Iran maintains is entirely civilian in nature. While some “nuclear materials remain buried under the rubble,” the technology “remains intact,” he said.

“We cannot stop uranium enrichment, and what is not achieved by war cannot be achieved through political means.” 

He added that Iran remains open to reaching a deal with the US through indirect negotiations, but only if Washington stops setting what he described as “impossible and unacceptable preconditions.”

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Araghchi also said Iran’s missile program is not up for discussion. “It would be foolish if one hands over their weapons.” 

The Omani-mediated US-Iran negotiations were suspended after Israel began its 12-day bombing campaign earlier this year.

Last month, the EU and UK reimposed sanctions on Iran which had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US withdrew from during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Tehran has since said it is no longer bound by the 2015 agreement, which expired in October.