Iran will not abandon its nuclear programme despite “severe” damage caused by US and Israeli air strikes, its foreign minister said.

Iran continues to refuse proposal it join regional consortium for enriched uranium as officials prepare for meetings with Russia, China and European nations amid nuclear tensions

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a recent interview that the U.S.’s strikes last month “destroyed” Tehran’s nuclear facilities and that the country will not refrain from

"We cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride," Araghchi told Fox.

But the quake, which appeared to leave the fortified plant intact, has renewed agonizing questions about the intersection of natural disasters, military tactics, and the remarkable engineering that characterizes Iran’s subterranean nuclear facilities.

The United States has assessed that only one of Iran’s three principal nuclear facilities was destroyed in U.S. strikes last month, officials and people familiar with ongoing assessments said, prompting renewed questions about President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran’s nuclear program had been “totally obliterated.

Weeks after his country was battered by waves of Israeli strikes and the US bombed three of its prized nuclear facilities, Iran’s foreign minister came to a gathering of regional diplomats in China this week with a simple ask.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warns of harsher retaliation as pressure mounts from the US and Europe to revive the nuclear deal. Talks stall ahead of looming snapback sanctions.