ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday that Tehran is “moving forward on a sustainable path” with its nuclear program despite renewed threats of US-Israeli kinetic action against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Washington would “absolutely” and “immediately” support potential renewed Israeli military actions targeting Iran if Tehran continues developing its nuclear and missile programs.

The comments came after reports following the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the US suggested the trip was intended to brief Trump on potential new attacks on Iran after the June war, amid Israel’s concerns over Tehran’s expanding missile and nuclear program.

“Iran's nuclear advances are the result of the Islamic Revolution,” said AEOI chief Mohammad Eslami on Thursday, adding that the country is “moving forward on a sustainable path” in its nuclear program, the state-owned IRNA news agency reported.

Eslami said that “this [nuclear] industry remains progressive and active,” despite what he described as “industrial sabotage, espionage, infiltration, assassination of scientists, and ultimately bombing and missile attacks on nuclear facilities.”

In June, Israel killed top brass Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists with airstrikes, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran, with the two trading salvos of missiles and drones for 12 days. The US also bombed the key Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites in the country near the end of the conflict.

“Now, I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening,” Trump said on Monday, speaking to reporters while standing next to Netanyahu upon his arrival in Florida.

Iran on Wednesday warned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that tolerating threats made by Washington would damage the agency’s credibility and shake international trust in its work.

While Iran remains under heavy international sanctions and pressure over its nuclear program, it has repeatedly said that its ballistic missile program is “not subject to negotiation,” insisting on its right to defend the country, as well as its right to pursue the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The UN nuclear watchdog and Western countries have strongly condemned Tehran for its actions, particularly for blocking nuclear inspectors from visiting and monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities following the June war.

The US and Iran engaged in several rounds of indirect talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, but the negotiations came to a halt with the outbreak of the June war.

Earlier in December, Iran’s Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi said that permanently improving the country’s air defenses is among Tehran’s “priorities,” noting that significant steps have been taken to boost military capabilities in the country’s south and west.

The expansion of drone bases has long been Iran's policy to address what it believes to be growing regional security challenges. 

Iran has introduced major plans in recent years to boost its unmanned aerial capabilities, particularly for surveillance and intelligence-gathering purposes, as well as precision strikes.