Iran threatens to strike US bases if conflict erupts over nuclear programme
Iran's defence minister has said his country would target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out with the United States, as President Donald Trump said he was losing confidence that a nuclear deal would be agreed.
Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April as Trump seeks an agreement that would place constraints on Iran's uranium enrichment. He has threatened to attack Iran if no deal can be agreed.
Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday that Iran would target US military bases in the region if the US attacked it first.
'Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don't come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,' Nasirzadeh told reporters, the Reuters news agency reported.
The sixth round of talks is expected later this week, with Trump saying they will take place on Thursday, and Tehran saying they will be held on Sunday in Oman.
Trump said that he was growing less confident that a nuclear deal would be reached, in comments in a podcast released on Wednesday.
'I don't know,' the US leader told the podcast Pod Force One on Monday, when asked whether he thought he could strike a deal with Iran.
'I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,' he said.
Trump repeated the US position that Iran would be stopped from developing a nuclear bomb, regardless of whether a deal was reached.
'But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it's so much nicer to do it,' he told the podcast.
'But I don't think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal.'
Iran insists that its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes, but Western powers have long expressed fear that Tehran intends to develop a nuclear weapon.
In the next round of talks, Iran is expected to deliver its counter to a previous US offer that was rejected by Tehran.
The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is currently meeting in Vienna, where it is poised to vote on a resolution to censure Iran over accusations it has failed to comply with nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
Iran has promised a 'proportionate' response to any action against it by the watchdog or Western powers.
Russia has also called for greater efforts to find a resolution to the nuclear issue. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees arms control and US relations, said on Wednesday that Moscow could provide practical help to strike a solution, offering that Russia could remove nuclear material from Iran to be converted into civilian reactor fuel.
'We are ready to provide assistance to both Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically,' Ryabkov told reporters, according to Reuters.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also weighed in on the impending talks, stressing that Iran did not wish to develop nuclear weapons, and calling for the continuation of its enrichment programme under the supervision of the IAEA.
'President Trump entered office saying that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. That is actually in line with our own doctrine and could become the main foundation for a deal,' Araghchi wrote on X.
'As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program is within reach — and could be achieved rapidly,' he wrote.
'That mutually beneficial outcome relies on the continuation of Iran's enrichment program, under the full supervision of the IAEA, and the effective termination of sanctions.'
President Trump entered office saying that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. That is actually in line with our own doctrine and could become the main foundation for a deal.
As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful…
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 11, 2025Another major sticking point in the talks has been Iran's missile programme, which would be used in the delivery of any nuclear weapon.
Nasirzadeh also said on Wednesday that Iran had successfully tested a missile carrying a 2,000kg (4,410lb) warhead last week.
He did not specify whether this was a variant of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile – Iran's longest-range projectile that can travel over 2,000km (1,240 miles) – or a new model, or provide further details about the missile.
During his first White House term from 2017-2021, Trump pulled the US out of a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment drive in exchange for relief from sanctions.
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