US can't do a ‘damn thing’ to stop Iran’s nuclear progress, cleric says

A senior Iranian cleric warned the United States on Friday that any military aggression against Iran would lead to a “crushing defeat.”

“America must understand that any violation or aggression will be met with a crushing defeat,” Mojtaba Mirdamadi the interim Friday prayer leader in the city of Isfahan, said during Eid al-Adha sermons

“Had we not built up our strength, the enemies would have already attacked us,” he said.

He also described Western criticism of Iran’s nuclear activities as “baseless,” saying it is intended to prevent Iran from growing stronger.

If the US-Iran nuclear talks fail, President Donald Trump may use the collapse as a "scapegoat" to pressure European governments to trigger the snapback mechanism, which would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, the Financial Times reported, citing an unnamed Western diplomat in Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday warned of a strong response if the IAEA Board of Governors takes action against Tehran, accusing the European powers of repeating the “foul conduct” that, in his view, played a role in Iran’s decision to start its uranium enrichment activities nearly two decades ago.

In a post on X, Araghchi said: “Instead of engaging in good faith, the E3 is opting for malign action against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors.”

Recalling past tensions, he wrote: “When the E3 engaged in the same foul conduct back in 2005, the outcome in many ways was the true birth of uranium enrichment in Iran. Has the E3 truly learned nothing in the past two decades?”

“Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights,” Araghchi warned, placing “blame solely and fully with irresponsible actors who stop at nothing to gain relevance.”

Tabriz Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Motahari Asl said Iran will push its nuclear energy and uranium enrichment programs “to the maximum,” insisting the country needs no one’s permission to pursue scientific and national progress.

“Halting enrichment would mean halting the country’s growth,” he said during Eid al-Adha prayers, echoing official resistance to Western pressure amid renewed nuclear talks.

“America operates 100 nuclear power plants and now wants to triple that number. What we do is none of their business,” he added.

“These hostile states are using organized crime groups to carry out violent and disruptive operations,” Jonathan Hall said, warning that such threats are much harder to conceptualize for the public compared to terrorism, but no less dangerous. “If you’re an intelligence officer, why would you not exploit divisions in the West?” he added.

Hall warned that while some operatives are “bunglers,” others have come alarmingly close to their targets.

His comments come amid a series of prosecutions involving state-linked threats.

In one trial, six Bulgarians were convicted of spying on behalf of Russian intelligence. In two separate operations on May 3, eight men, including seven Iranians, were arrested by the British counter-terrorism police. Three were later charged under the National Security Act for conduct 'likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.' The foreign state involved is Iran, police said.

Iran poses ‘unacceptable threat,’ UK minister says

Last month, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declared in parliament that “the Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to our domestic security, which cannot continue.”

“We will not tolerate growing state-backed threats on UK soil,” Cooper said. “The UK will not accept any Iranian state threat activity in the UK.”

Push to target Iran’s IRGC gains momentum

In response to the rising threats, Hall last month urged the government to expand its powers to target affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which he said poses a unique challenge. The Revolutionary Guards cannot be blacklisted the same way non-state actors are, Hall argued, but recommended a new mechanism — a Statutory Alert and Liability Threat (SALT) notice — to disrupt its networks and apply international stigma.

“It will allow the government to communicate decisive stigma... and put the IRGC on notice that its operations, minions, and influence networks are at greater risk of executive action,” his report said.

Over 550 UK lawmakers and peers signed a letter in early May calling for the full proscription of the IRGC as a terrorist group, intensifying political pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to act.