Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Iran’s atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said no country can deprive the Islamic republic of its right to nuclear enrichment, after U.S. President Donald Trump again hinted at military action following talks in Geneva.
“The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel,” said Mr. Eslami, according to a video published by Etemad daily on Thursday (February 19, 2026).
“Iran’s nuclear programme is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology.”
The comments follow the second round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva on Tuesday (February 17).
The two foes had held an initial round of discussions on February 6 in Oman, the first since previous talks collapsed during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June.
The United States briefly joined the war alongside Israel, striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
On Wednesday (February 18), Mr. Trump again suggested the United States might strike Iran in a post on his Truth Social site.
He warned Britain against giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, saying that the archipelago’s Diego Garcia airbase might be needed were Iran not to agree a deal, “in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime”.
Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups in the region — issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.
Western countries accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.
Mr. Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he has described as an “armada”.
After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he recently indicated that a second aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, would depart “very soon” for the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Iranian naval forces this week conducted military drills in the Gulf and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Separately, the Iranian and Russian navies held on Thursday (February 19) joint drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean, which the official IRNA news agency later announced had ended.
Published – February 19, 2026 06:47 pm IST
