‘Existential threat’ can bring changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine: Tehran

The Cradle, November 1, 2024 ─ 

In the 1990s, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa banning the production or use of nuclear weapons.

Head of the Strategic Council for Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and adviser to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, Kamal Kharrazi, stated in an interview with Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen that the Islamic Republic may change its nuclear doctrine “if the nation faces an existential threat.”

“We now have the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons, and we have no problem with that, while the fatwa of the leader of the revolution and the Islamic Republic, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, is the only thing that prevents that,” Kharrazi claimed.

Khamenei issued a fatwa in the 1990s stating that the development and use of nuclear weapons is ‘un-Islamic.’ As a result, Iran’s nuclear program has so far remained for civilian use.

However, calls from within Iran to update the doctrine are growing as Israel continues to escalate its wars on Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza.

Iran and Israel have traded tit-for-tat missile and drone attacks in recent months.

Israel most recently launched a missile and drone attack on Iran on 26 October, and is awaiting the next Iranian response.

Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Ali Fadavi, confirmed that Iran’s response to the recent Israeli attack is “inevitable,” noting that the Islamic Republic has not left any attack unanswered for over 40 years.

Al Mayadeen TV quoted Fadavi as saying, “We can target everything Israel has in one operation.”

Kharrazi raised the possibility of producing longer-range missiles, which European nations have until now warned Iran against.

“When they do not notice our concerns, especially regarding Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we no longer have any reason to take their concerns into account, so it is likely that the ranges of Iranian missiles will be developed and increase,” Kharrazi said.