Bruce's lengthy statement continued, "Prior to the United States' successful military operation, Iran was amassing a growing stockpile of highly enriched uranium for which there was no credible peaceful purpose, and it was the only state producing highly enriched uranium, up to 60%, that does not have nuclear weapons."

In the days after Israel’s war on Iran and the US air strikes on three nuclear sites, the Islamic Republic’s most hard-line newspaper called for the trial and execution of the man they held responsible for the conflict.