Iran will have 'no choice' but to acquire nukes if attacked: Khamenei adviser
TEHRAN
Iran would have to acquire a nuclear weapon if attacked by the United States or its allies, an adviser to the country's supreme leader has warned, following a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The comments came after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised to hit back if Trump carried out a threat to bomb the Islamic republic if it did not make a deal to curb its nuclear program.
"We are not moving towards [nuclear] weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself," Khamenei's adviser Ali Larijani told state TV.
"Iran does not want to do this, but ... [it] will have no choice," he added.
"If at some point you [the U.S.] move towards bombing by yourself or through Israel, you will force Iran to make a different decision."
Trump said on March 30 "there will be bombing" if Iran did not agree a nuclear deal, according to NBC News, which said he also threatened to punish Tehran with what he called "secondary tariffs.”
Despite the sharpening of Trump's comments, it was not clear if he was threatening a U.S. bombing or an operation coordinated with another country, possibly Iran's nemesis Israel.
"They threaten to do mischief," Khamenei said of the remarks during a speech for the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
"If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, in a post on X, said the threat was "a shocking affront to the very essence of international peace and security.”
Baqaei warned of unspecified "consequences" should the United States choose a path of "violence.”
A statement also said the Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of the Swiss embassy, which represents Washington's interests in Iran, "following the threats by the U.S. president.”
"The Americans have at least 10 bases in the region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops," warned General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the aerospace force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
