Iranian Intelligence Minister Sayyid Mahmoud Alawi said today (Tuesday) that if Iran feels that Western countries are pushing it into a corner, it will not hesitate to develop nuclear weapons, something the Islamic State has insisted for years that it has no intention of doing. The remarks were made during a televised interview in Iran in which the minister participated.
The statement is considered relatively rare in Iran, given that Iranian officials regularly deny the country’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, often citing a religious order issued in the early 2000s by Iranian Ayatollah spiritual leader Ali Khamenei. By order, Khamenei banned the development or use of any type of nuclear weapon.
During the interview, Aluy said that “the supreme spiritual leader explicitly said that nuclear weapons are contrary to Sharia law and that the state considers them religiously forbidden and therefore does not pursue them. But, an animal trapped in the corner behaves differently from a free animal. It is no longer Iran’s fault. “
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As you may recall, Iran insists that its nuclear program is designed to generate power and energy, but U.S. intelligence and UN intelligence have revealed that Iran has in the past launched a halted nuclear weapons program. At this point, US President Joe Biden is exploring ways to bring the United States back to the nuclear deal from which it withdrew in 2015, led by former President Donald Trump who has imposed severe sanctions on Iran.
In response to sanctions, Iran has violated the nuclear deal, measures on which Biden said that “if Tehran returns to compliance, Washington will follow suit and use it as a springboard for a broader agreement with Iran.”