Overview

• President Donald Trump shared a 2022 interview clip of Iranian politician Ali Motahari in which he said Iran sought to build a bomb.
• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei rejected the accusation as political and pointed to U.S. intelligence assessments stating Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.
• Motahari said his comments reflected a personal view and criticized Trump for presenting them as Iran's official policy.
• After U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, an initial U.S. assessment suggested only months of delay to Iran's program, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later fired DIA chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse following a leak investigation.
• Iran maintains its program is peaceful and cites a decree by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even as the IAEA previously reported enrichment near bomb‑grade levels in breach of the 2015 deal.