Hoo boy.
Fast forward several weeks...
There's something deeply human about his answer. He may have been working toward nuclear weapons for an authoritarian Islamic regime, but his answer about "living normally" and not in fear is good advice.
It actually reminds me of CS Lewis:
...let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things — praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts — not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.
In that same interview, Abbasi - who also served as a member of Iran's parliament from 2020 to 2024 - said he had not been asked to build nuclear weapons, but wouldn't hesitate to do so.
From MEMRI:
So far, we have not received orders to build [a nuclear bomb]. If they tell me to build it, I will do it.
This exchange was also enlightening:
Interviewer: 'If we decide to build [nuclear weapons], and during the time it takes us to build them, they attack and destroy our infrastructure, what should we do?'
Abbasi: 'Which infrastructure? Our nuclear infrastructure? Nothing would happen.'
Interviewer: 'How come?'
Abbasi: 'Our capabilities are spread all over the country ... If they target the production sites, it will be inconsequential to our timetable.'
Interviewer: 'Our timetable to build [a bomb]?'
Abbasi: 'Because our [nuclear materials] are not stored above ground for them to hit.'
I'm not sure if he should have bragged about those underground storehouses, either. Israel just used bunker-busting bombs to take out Iran's secretive nuclear facility at Natanz.
Israel even provided a graphic showing the multiple layers of underground storage that they targeted:
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