TEHRAN- The U.S. national security advisor has admittedly said that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons.

Jake Sullivan claimed at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday that since the mutual attacks between Iran and Israel, the United States has noticed an increase in public statements by Iranian officials regarding the possibility of changing Iran's nuclear doctrine.

“After the recent confrontation between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Iran has adopted new positions in this field, but there is no serious decision to build nuclear weapons.” He added.

Following Operation True Promise, Kamal Kharrazi, the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, stated in an interview with Al Jazeera, “If Iran's security is threatened by enemies, Iran's nuclear doctrine is changeable.”

On the sidelines of this forum, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, responding to reporters, criticized the Trump administration's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally called the JCPOA. 

He considered nuclear diplomacy as the most plausible solution for re-engagement with Iran.

Blinken emphasized, “Instead of being at least a year away from the capacity to produce uranium for a nuclear weapon, Iran is now probably only one or two weeks away from doing so, due to the irresponsible actions of the Trump administration. However, the United States will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons but still prefers diplomatic manners to prevent this.”

Following the United States unilateral exit from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, Iran activated the dispute resolution mechanism within the framework of the JCPOA Joint Committee at the ministerial level. As a result of this meeting, the JCPOA parties issued a statement, outlining 11 commitments to offset the economic impact of the U.S.'s unilateral actions. 

However, the unbalanced implementation of the agreement on one side and the pressures from the U.S.'s unilateral sanctions on the other side led to Iran's Supreme National Security Council deciding to halt the gradual implementation of voluntary nuclear commitments, granting a 60-day window for diplomacy, one year after the U.S.'s withdrawal from the JCPOA.

According to Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's uranium enrichment level has now reached 60% up from the 3.67% stipulated in the JCPOA, and in one instance, it has allegedly reached 84%.