In a sharp rebuke, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned former US President Donald Trump’s call for the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, denouncing the proposal as both “regressive” and “irresponsible.”
“Having rebranded its ‘Department of Defense’ as the ‘Department of War,’ a nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons,” Araghchi wrote late Thursday on X. He accused Washington of hypocrisy, claiming that while the US “demonises Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme,” it simultaneously threatens strikes on Tehran’s safeguarded facilities—actions he said were “in blatant violation of international law.”
Trump made the unexpected announcement on Thursday through a Truth Social post, just hours before his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit. He said he had instructed the Pentagon to restart nuclear testing “on an equal basis” with nations like Russia and China, which he claimed would match America’s nuclear arsenal within five years.
Analysts believe Trump’s remarks were driven less by tensions with Iran and more by the renewed nuclear posturing from Moscow and Beijing. Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that the decision likely reflects “Washington’s desire to project parity and deterrence amid Russian and Chinese advancements.”
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow had tested its Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo, following recent trials of the Burevestnik cruise missile. China, meanwhile, showcased new and upgraded nuclear-capable systems—such as the Dongfeng-5 intercontinental ballistic missile—at a September military parade.
Despite these displays, neither Russia nor China has conducted a nuclear explosion in decades, according to the United Nations. Nuclear testing has been banned under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996, which the US, China, and Iran have signed but not ratified. Russia withdrew its ratification in 2023.
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Experts remain uncertain about the nature of testing Trump envisions. Trevor Findlay, a nuclear security expert at the University of Melbourne, suggested Trump might be referring to missile launch tests rather than actual detonations. “These do not carry an actual nuclear warhead,” he said.
Tehran insists its nuclear activities remain civilian, having never conducted a nuclear test. Yet tensions persist, especially after US-Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities in June. Trump, for his part, continues to call for the “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear programme.