Hamidreza Taraghi's claim: an order for pre-emptive action against an Israeli nuclear attack has been issued

Hamidreza Taraghi, a member of the central council of the Islamic Coalition Party and a figure close to the core of power in the Islamic Republic, claimed in an interview with Euronews Persian that the government has made plans to counter a possible Israeli nuclear attack and that a directive for "pre-emptive action" has also been issued. The interview was published on Saturday, 10 October 2026.

Taraghi said that if Israel intends to carry out a nuclear attack, the Islamic Republic will act before it does, but when asked whether he meant an attack on the Dimona facilities, he described the details as classified. Euronews stressed that these claims have not been independently confirmed.

Admission that talks with the US have stopped

In the same interview, the Islamic Coalition Party member said negotiations with the United States have come to a complete halt and that, according to him, the Islamic Republic's leader does not permit direct talks with Washington. He said the only current dialogue is consultation with regional countries over arrangements for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and that the situation of "neither war nor negotiation" will continue.

Taraghi's remarks come as US Vice President JD Vance has made a real reduction in enrichment capacity a condition for ending the war and Donald Trump has promised not to attack Iran before the midterm elections. After that promise, a number of Islamic Republic hardliners had called for a pre-emptive strike.

The claim of 60% uranium as a deterrent

Taraghi also said the main dispute is not over enrichment but over changing the government, and claimed that if the Islamic Republic had not had a stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, it would have been the target of a nuclear attack by now. Yet that same stockpile did not prevent the US and Israel from launching a war against the Islamic Republic in February–March 2026, a war that has now continued for more than seven months.

According to Euronews, before the June 2025 attacks the International Atomic Energy Agency had estimated the Islamic Republic's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium at about 440.9 kilograms, and its current location is unclear. Israel has never officially confirmed or denied possessing nuclear weapons.

A figure close to the core of power says the Islamic Republic's leader does not permit direct talks with the United States.

Sources

• Euronews Persian