I think it's about total elimination, said US President Donald Trump after the US military's bombing raids on Iran's nuclear facilities Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan this summer.
Now, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dismissively responding to Trump's statements.
Dismisses Trump
In a statement on his official website, Khamenei tells Trump that he can "continue dreaming", and questions the American president's right to "decide what a country may or may not have if it possesses a nuclear industry."
The actual effect of the American attacks this summer is still unknown. The Pentagon has stated that Iran's nuclear weapons program was delayed by between one and two years, which contradicts a previously classified American intelligence report that, according to American media, estimated the delay to be only a few months.
Call each other "bullies"
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump again confidently stated that Iran was "no longer the bully of the Middle East" as a result of the American attacks. On Monday, Khamenei described Trump's statements as "inappropriate, incorrect and bullying".
The conflict with Israel, in which the US participated in June, took place two days before the continued planned nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, which had begun in April. The negotiations have since been interrupted, and Iran says that they are only willing to resume them if the US guarantees that no military actions will be taken.
