Tehran (TDI): Iran has pledged to rebuild its nuclear facilities “stronger than before” after they were damaged in Israeli and US strikes earlier this year, as Oman called on Tehran and Washington to revive stalled diplomatic talks.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, though the true extent of the damage remains uncertain.
During a visit to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran on Sunday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said the attacks would not derail the country’s ambitions. “By destroying buildings, we will not be set back,” he said in a video posted on his official website. “We will rebuild stronger than before.”
Pezeshkian added that Iranian scientists retained the expertise needed to continue their nuclear activities, though he did not elaborate on reconstruction plans. Similar remarks were made by him earlier this year, before the strikes, when he vowed that Iran would quickly restore any facilities hit by attacks.
Israel launched a large-scale bombing campaign against Iran in June, marking the start of a 12-day conflict that targeted military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas, killing several senior scientists. Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israeli cities.
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After Washington announced a halt to hostilities in July, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted that the damage to Iran’s infrastructure was “serious and severe.”
Pezeshkian’s renewed defiance came as Oman, which has long served as a diplomatic channel between Tehran and Washington, urged both nations to return to the negotiating table. “We want to see negotiations between Iran and the United States resume,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Saturday during the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.
On Sunday, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed that Tehran had “received messages” regarding the possible resumption of diplomacy, though she offered no further details. Oman has hosted five rounds of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials this year. The sixth round was scheduled to take place just three days before Israel launched its strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
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Since the attacks, Iran has come under renewed international pressure, with Britain, France, and Germany triggering the UN “snapback” mechanism that reinstates sanctions over Tehran’s alleged violations of the 2015 nuclear accord.
