Ankara: Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of using its nuclear program as a pretext to inflict destruction on the country, saying Washington's repeated attacks and threats against Iranian nuclear facilities reflected hostility toward the country's scientific and technological progress.

According to Anadolu Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stated that the repeated US attacks and threats against Iran's nuclear facilities violated the UN Charter, international law, and relevant resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, General Conference, and the UN Security Council.

Baqaei further commented on X, the US social media platform, that these attacks reveal the United States' deep-rooted enmity toward Iran's scientific and technological advancement. He emphasized that Iran's nuclear activities have been fully declared to the IAEA in accordance with its safeguards obligations.

He also dismissed US claims about a secret nuclear complex in Kolang Kouh, also known as Pickaxe Mountain, labeling it as a 'fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage.'

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US would strike the Pickaxe Mountain area near Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran 'pretty soon.' In response, Baqaei affirmed that the Iranian people remain resolute and united, ready to confront any act of US hostility or violation of their country's sovereignty and national security with full strength.

The US has initiated a series of strikes across Iran since last week, prompting Tehran to respond with strikes on facilities and bases it claims are used by the US military in various countries in the region. Despite a Pakistani-brokered framework agreement signed by the US and Iran in June to end the war that began in February and pave the way for a lasting peace deal, the exchange of fire has continued.