'Enriched Material Remains, Game Is Not Over': Khamenei’s Advisor Big Message To Donald Trump, Israel

Despite recent airstrikes by the United States and Israel targeting Iran’s major nuclear facilities, Tehran declared on Tuesday that its nuclear programme will continue uninterrupted.

“The game is not over,” said Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stressing that Iran still retains its stockpile of enriched uranium amid mounting international concern over its location and usage.

Taking to X, Shamkhani added, “Even assuming the facilities are completely destroyed, the game is not over; the enriched materials, local expertise, and politics remain. Now, the political and operational initiative, along with the right to legitimate defense, lies with the side that plays smart and avoids indiscriminate fire. The surprises will continue.” 

Iran Says Preparations in Place to Restart Damaged Facilities

According to AFP, Iran’s government said it had already taken “the necessary measures” to ensure that the nuclear programme would continue following the strikes.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, confirmed via state television, “We have taken the necessary measures and are taking stock of the damage.”

“Plans for restarting (the facilities) have been prepared in advance, and our strategy is to ensure that production and services are not disrupted.”

Core Threat Remains: 400kg of Enriched Uranium Still in Iran

While the U.S. and Israel claim the strikes "crippled" Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Iran’s most critical asset over 400kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity remains intact. That stockpile is just below weapons grade and sufficient to produce approximately 10 nuclear warheads if further refined.

Israel’s opposition leader says ‘majority’ of Iran’s enriched uranium destroyed.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid told a group of British lawmakers he believes much, but not all, of Iran’s enriched uranium was destroyed by Israeli and U.S. strikes. “We think at least the majority of it might be, gone, but not everything,” he said.

He said Iran’s nuclear ambitions “were hurt and they were taken backwards significantly. We just don’t know exactly right now how much.”

Lapid told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that Iran likely smuggled some of the uranium out of the facilities that have been attacked. “There are only a limited number of places they can smuggle the uranium to,” he said. “You don’t take it in a suitcase and put it at home until the fire stops.” 

The location of the enriched material remains uncertain, as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections have not resumed since the conflict began.

As diplomatic tensions grow, Tehran’s message is clear, its nuclear ambitions are far from over, and it still holds leverage in the ongoing geopolitical standoff.

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