The world knows that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said on Monday, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Iran threatened on Monday to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20% purity as its next big potential moves away from a 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog tasked with verifying Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, confirmed that Iran surpassed the enrichment threshold.
"Why do they globally sanction us about the nuclear issue when the world knows that we are not pursuing a weapon? In reality, they are sanctioning us because of knowledge," Salami said. "Nuclear weapons have no place in Islam. Islam never approves of weapons of mass destruction."
French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic adviser is spending two days in Tehran as part of an urgent bid to defuse rising tensions with Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
An Élysée Palace official said that adviser Emmanuel Bonne left for Tehran on Tuesday, seeking ways to restart dialogue. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and asked for anonymity.
Macron and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed to set a July 15 deadline to solve the current impasse, and ultimately save the 2015 nuclear accord that the US pulled out of last year.
Macron spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday – the day Iran began enriching uranium beyond the accord's 3.67% limit, and after breaking the limit on stockpiles.
