Senior White House officials have again said Iran must do away with its nuclear programme entirely, leaving all uranium enrichment activity, even at low levels. Amid intense US air strikes on Yemen, Trump has also said the US will hold Tehran responsible for any attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, dismissing Iran’s insistence that the group operates independently. This has only led to more calls from within Iran to abandon its officially stated policy that it will never pursue nuclear weapons.

Last Tuesday, Vatan-e Emrooz, a top daily newspaper run by ultraconservatives, marked the upcoming end of the Iranian year on March 20 by saying more countries will ponder nuclear bombs for their security as a result of Trump’s policies. “Nuclear year”, read its headline, complete with an image of a massive nuclear explosion. Nournews, an outlet affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said there will be “no guarantees” Iran will not abandon the Non-Proliferation Treaty if Trump and his team keep threatening.

Ahmad Naderi, a member of the presiding board of the Iranian parliament, told a public session of the assembly last week that “perhaps it is time for us to rethink our nuclear, military and security doctrine”. The Tehran lawmaker has also previously backed testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, claiming “there will be no balance in the region” unless Iran possesses a bomb. Such calls have increasingly gained favour among hardline factions in Iran, echoing a sentiment that the establishment is prepared to dash for a bomb if its existence is threatened.

Last week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose religious ruling currently bars Iran from seeking weapons of mass destruction, also commented. “If we wanted to make nuclear weapons, America could not stop us. If we do not have nuclear weapons and are not pursuing them, it is because we do not want it,” Khamenei said. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which carries out inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, Iran has amassed enough fissile material for multiple bombs but has made no effort to build one. (Al Jazeera/AP)