'Pay up or we'll move UN': Iran admits US strikes 'badly damaged' nuclear sites days after denying radioactive leak

Iran, which had earlier denied any radioactive contamination in the US strikes on its nuclear facilities, is now singing a different song. Now Tehran acknowledges that its sites were "badly damaged" and even went on to seek compensation.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghei told Al Jazeera, "Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure," according to Al Jazeera. But he did not elaborate on the extent of the damage.

This comes as Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh sought compensation from the US for the destruction caused to the nuclear sites. He also threatened that Tehran will move UN with a complaint if America fails to pay damages.

"Washington must pay compensation for the damages caused to Iran’s facilities or else Tehran will file a complaint with the United Nations on this matter," said Khatibzadeh, while speaking to a Lebanese news agency.

This comes as US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran is "not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich".

When asked about Trump hoping to have "some sort of a relationship" with Tehran, Baghei told Al Jazeera that while the US has been talking about diplomacy, they allowed the Israelis to attack Iran. Saying Iran no longer has "any trust" in the US promises, he said, "They torpedoed diplomacy".

Regarding Iran's attack on the American military base Al Udeid in Qatar, the spokesman said the attack had nothing to do with Doha. “It was an exercise of our right of self-defence against American aggression,” he told the Doha-based news outlet.

Iran's Communication Minister Sattar Hashemi announced on Wednesday that amid normalisation, “the state of communication access has returned to its previous conditions.”

Middle East