The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran won’t give up its nuclear enrichment program because it’s an issue of ‘national pride.’
Iran’s foreign minister confirmed this week that U.S. airstrikes left the country’s nuclear facilities “destroyed” but said Iran would continue to enrich uranium. This comes about a month after three facilities were targeted.
“Our facilities have been damaged, seriously damaged, the extent of which is now under evaluation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed in a Fox News “Special Report” interview on July 21.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: "Our facilities have been damaged — seriously damaged … The facilities have been destroyed." pic.twitter.com/pqb6N1qWyU
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 22, 2025
Later in the interview, Araghchi conceded that “the facilities have been destroyed,” referring to nuclear enrichment sites that were targeted by the U.S. military on June 22. President Donald Trump authorized the strikes amid a nearly two-week aerial war between Iran and Israel.
U.S. officials and Trump have said that strikes carried out by B-2 stealth bombers destroyed Iran’s ability to enrich uranium at three sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Several intelligence assessments have been leaked to the media suggesting otherwise, however, drawing pushback from Trump and others.
In a post on Truth Social on July 21, Trump responded to the Araghchi interview on Fox News and again said that reports claiming the United States didn’t destroy the sites are false. Trump also warned that the U.S. military could launch more strikes if needed.
“Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, on the Iran Nuclear Sites: ‘Damages are very severe, they are destroyed.’ Of course they are, just like I said, and we will do it again, if necessary! As interviewed by Bret Baier,” Trump wrote on social media.
The president added that CNN and other media outlets should “apologize” to him and “the great pilots” following the strikes, which he said “OBLITERATED” Iran’s facilities.
In the Fox News interview, Araghchi said that Tehran will not abandon its nuclear program.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously, we cannot give up [on] enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the foreign minister said.
