KARACHI: The Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karachi, Akbar Eissa Zadeh, has said that Iran’s nuclear doctrine is not about nuclear weapons.

“We are only using atomic energy for medical, agriculture and industrial purposes. It is our right but here two countries that are atomic powers are dictating to others to not dare go that way,” he said.

The consul general was replying to a question about Iran’s nuclear programme following his talk on the subject of ‘Iran at the Crossroads of War in the Middle East’ at the jam-packed library of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) on Saturday.

Speaking in Persian, which was then translated into Urdu by an interpreter, the Consul General said that his country has been in a state of war, defending itself against attacks from two colluding countries for more than 50 days now.

Iranian consul general says Tehran uses atomic energy for medical, agricultural and industrial purposes

“I want to take this opportunity to speak to this learned gathering about our stance on this illegal aggression against us,” he said, adding that America cannot stand to see anyone take a brave stance against it. “Donald Trump started the conflict thinking that he can bring about a regime change in Iran through air attacks. But here we are withstanding, resisting, holding our ground,” he said.

“America’s politics is only based on benefiting Israel. Iran in its entire history has never been the first to attack any country. We are a peaceful nation which wants peace in the region. Our foreign policy is based on looking out for our neighbours and respecting their rights and independence. Then it boggles the mind as to why the US would attack us like this. They don’t know the first thing about diplomacy but they know how to threaten others, attack them through their military bases and military might and demoralise them through social media.

“Be they Democrats or Republicans, they both have similar intentions. The Democrats want to stop Iran’s progress in every way whatsoever. And the Republicans threaten and pressurise Iran so that we do not dare stand up against them. This is their strategy when attacking us. They martyred our Supreme Leader and then came after the rest of the top brass. They killed our scientists, they want to ruin our entire infrastructure. In their madness they even attacked a school, killing innocent little girls there,” the Iranian CG pointed out.

“Everyone can see how the US bullies countries but they don’t say or do anything about it because of their double standards. From the Security Council, the United Nations, human rights organisations, the media, no one does anything about this illegal aggression against Iran. Had it not been Iran but any other country in the West they would have all come to its aid,” he regretted.

“In this scenario we are holding our ground thanks to our defence industry. We are self-sufficient as far as our defence industry is concerned. Our resistance is possible thanks to our defence industry. And we developed all the weapons that we have to defend us despite the sanctions imposed on us. The US should just back off while admitting that they made a huge blunder by coming after Iran,” he said.

Later, while replying to another question about the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, Akbar Eissa Zadeh, said that it was only done because of Israel and US aggression. “It was open before that. And even now it is open to harmless vessels. It is only closed for the US and its allies due to our defence policy now,” he explained.

Replying to yet another question about the pro-Israel crazed Indian media, the Iranian CG also said that Iran’s policy is of cooperation and developing better relations with all Islamic countries, especially Pakistan. “The present war has many negatives including economic repercussions so all of us want peace and here Pakistan deserves all credit for being the peacemaker,” he added.

Earlier, PIIA’s Chairperson Dr Masuma Hasan said that Iran is in all news headlines these days because of the unprecedented attack on its sovereignty by America and Israel.

“But Iran has shown remarkable resilience, patience and dignity in the difficult situation that it has been pushed into,” she said.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2026