“Should existence be threatened”
Iran threatens to change its nuclear doctrine
May 9, 2024, 10:34 a.m
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Iran repeatedly declares that it will only use its nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes. Now, however, an advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei sounds different. He explains: The leadership in Tehran has already signaled that it has the potential to build atomic bombs.
Iran would be forced to change its nuclear doctrine if its existence was threatened, according to an adviser to the Supreme Leader. “We did not decide to build a nuclear bomb,” said Kamal Charrasi, an adviser to spiritual and political leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “But if Iran’s existence is threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine.”
The leadership in Tehran has already signaled that it has the potential to build such weapons, Charrasi added, according to a report by the Iranian student news agency SNN. In the midst of the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip, this is fueling fears that there could be a further escalation and that Iran could build nuclear weapons. .
Iran has repeatedly said it uses its nuclear facilities only for peaceful purposes. Khamenei banned the development of nuclear weapons in the early 2000s and reiterated his stance in 2019. “The construction and storage of nuclear bombs is wrong and their use is haram (religiously forbidden),” Khamenei said. “Even though we have nuclear technology, Iran has strictly avoided it.”
However, in 2021, Iran’s then intelligence minister said pressure from Western states could lead Iran to seek nuclear weapons. “In the event of an attack by the Zionist regime on our nuclear facilities, our deterrence will change,” said advisor Charrasi. Iran usually refers to Israel as a Zionist regime.
Tensions between the two countries reached their peak in April. The Iranian military fired around 300 drones and missiles at targets in Israel. It was retaliating for a previous attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus attributed to Israel, in which several people were killed – including senior officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. According to Israeli information, 99 percent of the Iranian projectiles were intercepted.